Criteria for evaluating global health partnerships in colleges of pharmacy and health sciences.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The demand for international experiences as part of education and training for healthcare providers continues to increase. As schools/colleges of pharmacy increase training opportunities in global health, there is a demand for a strategic way to evaluate opportunities. Evaluation tools can be utilized to facilitate this type of assessment.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: The purpose of this article is to highlight two different international experiential education site evaluation tools, discuss lessons learned when applying these tools in the field, and outline steps for a college of pharmacy to create their own tool to meet institution specific needs.

FINDINGS: The involvement of key stakeholders is important to developing an evaluation tool. Identification and prioritization of key criteria for assessing partnerships is essential. There are many criteria and each institution may consider a unique set of criteria, the most appropriate way to evaluate these, and who should be completing this evaluation.

DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY: An evaluation tool may serve as a framework of discussion for new and existing international partnerships. The use of a global partnership evaluation tool allows for a more consistent discussion when deciding if the partnership is appropriate for both parties, helps the involved faculty know what criteria are required to be evaluated and outlines what resources should be considered.