Rathi SARAVANAN*, Osman Bin Mohamad, Soumyanarayanan UTTARA, Faith TAN, Silke VOGEL, and LEONG Wai Yeen, James
Centre of Regulatory Excellence, DUKE-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Saravanan, R., Osman bin Mohamad, Uttara. S., Tan, F., Vogel, S., & Leong, J. W. Y. (2023). Enhancing regulatory capacity of diverse healthcare stakeholder communities: Reflections on the development and delivery of a graduate certificate programme [Poster presentation]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecc2023proceedings/enhancing-regulatory-capacity-of-diverse-healthcare-stakeholder-communities-reflections-on-the-development-and-delivery-of-a-graduate-certificate-programme/
SUB-THEME
Communities and Education
KEYWORDS
Capacity-building, regulatory science education, blended learning, team-based learning and collaborative learning
CATEGORY
Poster Presentations
ABSTRACT
Timely access to safe and good quality essential medicine relies on the capacity and partnerships of diverse stakeholders in the healthcare environment: patients, healthcare professionals, regulators, the industry, academia, and research communities. Regulation of health products is the fundamental approach to safeguard patients against products that are harmful or ineffective. However, navigating this complex and highly dynamic healthcare regulatory landscape requires regulatory knowledge, critical skills, and competencies that are not imparted in standard and structured programmes. The primary challenge for regulatory professionals in diverse stakeholder communities is acquiring the relevant baseline knowledge, and staying relevant with updated current regulatory developments arising from globalisation and technological advancements. Despite the vital role of regulators in accelerating the development and access of life-saving health products, there is limited options for training and continued education in health products regulation, locally and within the region. Addressing this need, the Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) at DUKE-NUS Medical School in Singapore, launched a graduate certificate (GC) programme in health products regulation in 2017. The GC programme aims at building capabilities of regulatory professionals, while simultaneously promoting partnerships across stakeholders for an efficient and effective regulatory environment in the region.
As a team of educators at CoRE, the poster documents the reflections on the journey of developing and delivering the GC programme. The tailored curriculum, leveraging on social constructivism theory, principles of blended learning, team-based learning (TBL), as well as engaged and educated regulatory professionals from diverse stakeholder communities in Singapore and across Asia- Pacific. The active learning strategies utilised in the classroom setting, across physical and virtual platforms, foster 21st-century competencies of collaboration, communication, critical thinking skills, and awareness of the global regulatory landscape. Through the structured curriculum and pedagogical approaches adopted, participants are equipped with the practical skillsets necessary to perform and excel in their roles within the regulatory and healthcare systems. The positive feedback from participants is testimony to the effectiveness of the programme in strengthening the capacities of health product regulatory systems. The key insights outlined will support and refine similar capacity-building efforts as well as collaborative learning programmes in higher education locally and elsewhere.
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