Department of Family and Preventive Medicine faculty members Don Pedersen, PhD, PA; Richard Backman, MD; and Kathy Pedersen, MPAS, PA-C were invited speakers at the "International Conference on Challenges and Prospects of Quality Education in Nepal in the Federalism Era, Feb 23-24, 2018. The conference was organized by the Higher Institutions and Secondary Schools Association (HISSAN) of Nepal. It was held in Budanilkhanta, Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal is in a transition period. One area of reform is an emphasis on quality education.
KP Sharma Oli, the Right Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Nepal, was in attendance to inaugurate the program. The University of Utah was listed as a conference collaborator. University of Utah faculty discussed workforce capacity building, professional development, and new opportunities for Heath Assistants (HA) in Nepal. The HA is an analogue of US Physician Assistants. The University of Utah has worked with the Health Assistant profession in Nepal since 2013, to include research, collaborative projects, education, and health camps. In 2015, the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine provided a Health Studies Fund research grant for the 2015 study - "CAREER PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF HEALTH ASSISTANTS (HA) IN NEPAL".
The University of Utah speakers' topic was: "A 50 Year History of Physician Assistant Education in the United States and Lessons Learned for the Health Assistant Profession in Nepal” The U of U group, along with research collaborators Dr. Ram Prasad Shrestha and Dr. Sujan Marahaof Nepal, also met with the Vice Chancellor and faculty of the new Nepal Open University (NOU) that will be embarking on a distance education effort to provide post-secondary education to the people of Nepal. An “Advanced Health Assistant (AHA) curriculum is being proposed for Nepal with assistance from the University of Utah. The proposed 12-month curriculum will be delivered through the NOU and will include both didactic and clinical training to build capacity of the existing Nepal Health Assistant profession.