Before the onsite project, class usually meets twice a week in February and March, and students also attend a small number of lunch sessions and mentor meetings. In April, class meets once a week to allow time for mentor and team meetings. Class sessions include interactions with guests to build the dialog—not only within the class but also within the wider community.
The following table lists the session topics, and required preparation and follow-up for each session. This list of scheduled sessions does not include deliverables and course assignments, which are listed on the Deliverables and Action Steps page. During certain class sessions, in-class surveys are conducted as check-ins for assignments and deliverables progress, and are indicated in the table below. Full citations for the readings and cases are available on the Readings page.
[S] = Regular class session
[LS] = Lunch session with guest speakers. At least one, though preferably all team members, should attend. Any students who miss these sessions MUST obtain full debriefing from teammates and follow up as needed.
[M] = Meetings scheduled in place of class sessions.
| WEEK # | SES # | TOPICS | REQUIRED PREPS / FOLLOW—UPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S1 | Visions for the course and vision in global health | Readings |
| LS1 |
Medical briefing and library research Speakers: Dr. Heller from MIT Medical; Alex Caracuzzo from MIT Libraries | ||
| S2 |
Technology and strategy: an alum's perspective Speaker: Lina Sayed, MBA 2012 | Readings | |
| 2 | LS2 |
NDAs and confidentiality Speakers: Ellen Baum, Director of Contract Administration and Planning at MIT Sloan; Bradley Abruzzi from MIT Office of the General Counsel | |
| S3 | Global health overview (focus on maternal health) | Readings | |
| LS3 |
Travels Speakers: John O'Brien from A Briggs Visa Passport & Visa Expeditors; McLaren Gould, Action Learning Program Coordinator at MIT Sloan | ||
| S4 | Process improvement | Readings and Nairobi County Hospital case prep | |
| 3 | S5 | Data and measurement |
Readings and Apollo Hospitals case prep |
| 4 | S6 | HR, job design, and task shifting | Readings and CHWs in Zambia case prep |
| LS4 |
Trip expenses Speakers: Sloan Action Learning staff; Benn Egan from MIT Sloan Finance and Accounting Office | ||
| S7 |
Management matters Panelists: Bobby Milstein, Director of ReThink Health; Sachin Jain, Chief Medical Information and Innovation Officer at Merck; Rebecca Weintraub, Executive Director of the Global Health Delivery Project, Associate Physician at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital; Tricia Morente, Faculty at Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage, COO of Kangu | Readings | |
| 5 | S8 | Health commodities and distribution | Readings and Living Goods case prep |
| S9 | Finance and revenue models |
Readings and Star Hospital case prep In-class survey: annotated bibliography and interim study (PDF) | |
| 6 | S10 | Expansion, growth, and unmet needs |
Readings and Empowering Lives in Kenya case prep |
| S11 |
Leading change and innovation Speakers: Bill Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of Daktari Diagnostics; Kurt Friedrich, Executive Director of Grassroot Soccer | ||
| 7 | On-site team project in Africa or South Asia, including mentor visits as feasible | ||
| 8 | On-site team project (cont.) | ||
| 9 | M1 | Preparation of trip debrief | Meet with TA in classroom to turn in trip photos and other materials; plan debrief presentation with TA |
| S12 | Debrief: highlights, challenges, surprises |
Prepare for mentor meeting | |
| 10 | M2 | Mentor meeting: finalize wrap-up host deliverable | Follow-up from mentor meeting |
| S13 |
Global health innovators panel Panelists: Jim Cohick, Senior Vice President of Specialty Programs at Cure International; Brian Mullaney, Co-founder and CEO of WonderWork; Shivani Garg Patel, Co-founder of Samahope | Readings | |
| 11 | S14 | Management matters, revisited | Readings |
| 12 | M3 | Mentor or team meetings | |
| S15 | Healthcare delivery challenges and opportunities | Readings | |
| 13 | M4 | Debrief with Prof. Sastry | Student survey about team, project, host, and self |
| S16 | Grand class finale with distinguished guests |
Invite a first-year student as a guest to the class finale | |