Interdisciplinary meetings at the first Centre for Health Governance workshop
At the first PhD workshop at the newly established Centre for Health Governance, about twenty doctoral students with widely differing research interests met. Based at the School of Business, Economics and Law and the Sahlgrenska Academy, the purpose was to get to know each other's research projects and, perhaps more importantly, to get to know each other.
“In a newly started centre this is a good start-up activity. The doctoral students are extremely important for our future research and already making contacts across faculty boundaries is a good starting point for collaboration between different disciplines”, says Ewa Wikström, professor and director of the Centre for Health Governance.
The Centre for Health Governance is a joint venture in health economics and governance, of the School of Business, Economics and Law and the Sahlgrenska Academy. Research and education in the field of health governance are gathered here, in order to generate directly useful knowledge for the health and medical care sector. Research in health economics and health management has an interdisciplinary focus and is broad, from governance and organization to issues of cost-effectiveness in specific treatments.
Great variation in research projects
During the workshop, doctoral students from the School of Business, Economics and Law, and the Sahlgrenska Academy presented their research projects to each other and a group of senior researchers. And just like the research at the centre, there was a great variation in the doctoral projects. From studies of measuring cost-effectiveness in person-centred care to health economic perspectives on digitalisation in health care, economic consequences of antibiotic resistance and studies of how covid-19 has affected health care in Indonesia.
Jean Nepo Utumatwishima from Rwanda is a doctoral student in global public health. His dissertation project examines undernourishment in children in Rwanda with a focus on socio-economic and psychological factors as well as gender dimensions and domestic violence:
“I am impressed by the workshop, especially by how different the ideas, research projects and backgrounds are, but with a common vision of being able to deliver cost-effective care. I also work as a doctor at a hospital in Rwanda, where the, sometimes expensive, measures taken in healthcare are not always evaluated. Here I meet perspectives that I can take with me both in my work as a doctor and in my dissertation.”
"A great context where health governance issues are at the centre"
The workshop ended with a discussion about continued joint activities. This may involve seminars, participation in national and international conferences and exchange of experience about the doctoral student process. In addition, the senior researchers will organize workshops around joint applications.
Mimmi Kheddache Jendeby is a collaborative doctoral student in work science and also works as a strategist in the Västra Götaland region. In her research, she examines various aspects of the introduction of the future healthcare information environment in Västra Götaland.
“It has been a very exciting and fun day. Now I hope for a continuation, with more and in-depth meetings – this meeting was very much about getting to know each other. It is great to have a context where health governance issues are at the centre and getting a forum to discuss them”, she says.
