INNOVARE. Revista de Ciencia y Tecnología. Vol. 12, No. 3, 2023

INNOVARE

Revista de Ciencia y Tecnología

Disponible en CAMJOL - Sitio web: www.unitec.edu/innovare/

Autor corresponsal: bienvenido.veras@ucateci.edu.do, Universidad Católica del Cibao, La Vega, República Dominicana

Disponible en: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/innovare.v12i3.17171

Letter to the Editor

Incorporating One Health in health professions curriculum in the

Dominican Republic

Incorporando One Health en el currículo de profesiones de la salud en República Dominicana

Bienvenido A. Veras-Estévez

, Helena J. Chapman

Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica del Cibao, UCATECI, La Vega, Dominican Republic

Training the global health workforce to help manage

emerging risks (including pandemic preparedness) and build

health system resiliency is a priority for health professions

programs. Incorporating One Health competencies – which

emphasize multidisciplinary collaborations to identify

innovative solutions that connect human, animal, and

environmental health – can prepare trainees to excel in their

academic teaching, clinical practice, community health

activities, laboratory diagnostics, and policy decision-

making (One Health High-Level Expert Panel et al., 2022;

Frankson et al., 2016).

The One Health Joint Plan of Action 2022-2026, which

includes the One Health emphasis on the four Cs (capacity

building, collaboration, communication, cooperation),

offers health professionals a framework to guide the

development of community activities, comprehensive

training courses, relevant policies, and engagement with

stakeholders (Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations [FAO] et al., 2022). Hence, strengthening

professional development opportunities in One Health

across low- and middle-income countries, already affected

by the global health workforce shortage, will support skills-

based exercises for trainees, encourage staff retention,

reinforce scientific innovation, and safeguard health system

service delivery.

The Dominican Republic (DR), a middle-income

Caribbean nation with 11 million residents, estimates 1.5

physicians (per 1,000 persons), when compared to Latin

America and the Caribbean (3.0), United States (2.6), and

United Kingdom (5.8) physicians (per 1,000 persons) (The

World Bank, 2023). DR health professionals encounter

specific limitations (“knowledge-action gap”) in leading

clinical and community activities. First, few skill-building

trainings offered to strengthen proficiencies in analyzing

complex health issues and preparing scientific reports may

hinder effective teamwork and decision-making activities at

local, regional, and national levels. Second, weak

associations between networks of community primary care

centers (unidades de atención primaria) and hospitals,

airports, and border health services, including

communication gaps, lack of a universal electronic portal for

data entry, and limited access to Ministry of Health

resources, can influence erroneous reporting into disease

surveillance systems. Third, absence of a centralized hub to

support epidemiological research may delay identifying

real-time health priorities for Ministry of Health funding.

To address these challenges and advance scientific

innovation, Universidad Católica del Cibao (UCATECI)

leaders established the first Master of Public Health

(Epidemiology) program in the northern DR – with One

Health coursework – for health professional graduates in

Fall 2021. This hybrid program fills a post-graduate training

gap (required thesis) in the geographic region.

Students learn to evaluate national and international

disease burden, identify at-risk populations, conduct

epidemiological analyses, and assess and critique health

policies. They incorporate social science concepts and

traditional knowledge to embrace the holistic One Health

approach and better understand community needs when

working directly with residents. Students gain skills in oral

and written scientific communication and are motivated to

use innovative technology (e.g. YouTube, TikTok,

Instagram) to share key health messages with target

populations. In 2024, UCATECI leaders will launch the

inaugural One Health Newsletter, encouraging students to

publish their commentaries and fieldwork experiences.

Academic programs can incorporate One Health

competencies in health professions education − including

B. A. Veras-Estévez & H. J. Chapman

INNOVARE. Revista de Ciencia y Tecnología. Vol. 12, No. 3, 2023

didactics like case studies, debates, role playing, and

fieldwork – to prepare health professionals for high-level

leadership positions (Chapman & Veras-Estévez, 2020). As

a novel academic model in the Americas region,

UCATECI's Master of Public Health program incorporates

the One Health concept and empowers future leaders to

address the 21st-century challenges, ensuring graduates are

well-prepared to advance public health outcomes locally and

globally.

These graduates can leverage their expertise to uphold

communication and data sharing between local and national

health centers and the DR Ministry of Health as well as

organize epidemiological research networks to foster timely

collaborations, which will streamline efforts to directly

support national health priorities and the Sustainable

Development Goals.

Author Contributions

BAVE and HJC had substantial contributions to the

preparation and completion of the article drafts.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Funding

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and

do not reflect the official policy or position of the

Universidad Católica del Cibao.

Bibliographic References

Chapman, H. J., & Veras-Estévez, B. A. (2020). Strengthening global

health content in health professions curricula. Health Education

Journal, 79(7), 839-850.

https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0017896920915231

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], United

Nations Environment Programme [UNEP], World Health Organization

[WHO], & World Organisation for Animal Health [WOAH]. (2022).

One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026). Working together for the

health of humans, animals, plants and the environment.

https://dx.doi.org/10.4060/cc2289en

Frankson, R., Hueston, W., Christian, K., Olson, D., Lee, M., Valeri, L.,

Hyatt, R., Annelli, J., & Rubin, C. (2016). One Health core competency

domains. Frontiers in Public Health, 4, 1-6.

https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00192

One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), Adisasmito, W. B.,

Almuhairi, S., Behravesh, C. B., Bilivogui, P., Bukachi, S. A., Casas,

N., Cediel Becerra, N., Charron, D. F., Chaudhary, A., Ciacci Zanella,

J. R., Cunningham, A. A., Dar, O., Debnath, N., Dungu, B., Farag, E.,

Gao, G. F., Hayman, D. T. S., Khaitsa, M., Koopmans, M. P. G., …

Zhou, L. (2022). One Health: a new definition for a sustainable and

healthy future. PLoS Pathogens, 18(6), 1-4.

https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010537

The World Bank. (2023). Physicians (per 1,000 people). Accessed 20

November 2023.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS

*Received: 23 November 2023. Revised: 23 November 2023. Accepted: 3

December 2023. Published: 30 December 2023

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