CIE and the Institute for Global Health at UMass (IGH) worked with Kabul Medical University (KMU) in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to achieve the following objectives: (1) improve the pre-service medical training offered in Afghan public universities to better meet workforce needs, beginning with KMU; and (2) establish a cadre of doctors graduating from Afghanistan’s public universities who are able to offer high quality services to the Basic Package of Health Services  and Essential Package of Hospital Services in Afghanistan.

Specifically, the project worked to achieve the following results: (1) improved coordination among stakeholders; (2) revised and updated curriculum at Kabul Medical University; (3) improved teaching methods at Kabul Medical University; (4) strengthened systems for clinical rotations; and (5) revised and rationalized admissions requirements.

The UMass responsibilities were focused on two aspects:  creating a new School of Public Health at KMU with revised undergraduate course offerings, and designing a new Masters in Public Health for KMU.  UMass was also responsible for strengthening the pedagogy across all of KMU to support their goal of implementing a problem-based methodology that is adapted to the realities faced by graduates working in Afghanistan’s health services.