Abstract:

To improve the binational response to HIV/AIDS prevention in Northwestern Mexico and surrounding regions, four higher education Institutions, two from the United States (University of California San Diego and San Diego State University) and two from México (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and Colegio de la Frontera Norte), participated with the support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Higher Education for Development (HED), through a three years Training, Internships, Exchanges, Scholarships (TIES) Project., creating a Curriculum in English and Spanish, under the competence learning model, titled “Diplomado for Professional Development in HIV/AIDS Prevention in the United States-Mexico Northwest Border”. The overall outcomes for this interdisciplinary curriculum were successful due to the willingness of faculty from both countries involved in this ambitious project to embrace positive changes in public health and to their strong commitment to improve the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through education. Project activities for the three years included the development of the curricula for the three modules of the HIV/AIDS prevention Diplomado, focusing in applied epidemiology and health policy for HIV/AIDS prevention in the Northwestern Mexican border. The overall training goal of the Diplomado was to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to implement an HIV prevention program and assess effectiveness of current regional delivery of HIV prevention care and outreach, and to create a binational infrastructure for training Mexican nationals in HIV/AIDS prevention and program evaluation, to facilitate educational opportunities at the Master’s level for Mexican Nationals in Tijuana in HIV/AIDS prevention, program evaluation, and to create sustainable mechanisms whereby undergraduates or graduate medical students in Tijuana and San Diego gain hands-on experience in HIV/AIDS prevention activities in Baja California. The specific objectives were to promote the use of best practices for HIV/AIDS prevention according to the regional guidelines, to develop ability to apply epidemiology methods to conduct small scale studies aimed to improve quality of HIV/AIDS and TB prevention services. TIES offered a certificate program (diplomado with a total of 120 Hrs.) in San Diego and Tijuana providing simultaneous translation and including didactic lectures, distance learning, field trips and an internship that allowed students to put their new skills into practice. Internship opportunities included among others, a field trip course in Baja California and rotations in NGO’s HIV/AIDS service providers. Initially, organizing meetings between the four partnering universities was difficult due to geographical and language barriers. To improve communication and to increase teamwork efforts among the four partnering universities, telecommunication technology was used and key partners were trained at all of the partnering universities, and teleconferences were scheduled to discuss upcoming events. The directors and co-investigators made time for project meetings to take place in both sides of the border in order to create the academic curriculum and for problem solving when necessary. We learned that regular communication between collaborators was key in developing a stronger and successful partnership.

Keywords:

HIV/AIDS Diplomado, binational curriculum, communication, Tijuana-San Diego.