Data Sheet 3_The African digital health student bootcamp: bridging education, workforce, and practice gaps for healthcare innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa.pdf

IntroductionAfrica, despite significant progress in various sectors, continues to face public health issues largely due to factors such as inadequate health system financing mechanisms, lack of stable leadership and governance, shortage of skilled health workforce, and limited access to drugs and technologies. To address these challenges, it is crucial to build the capacity of future professionals, providing them with resources to innovate health solutions. As such, we designed a bootcamp that empowers students, supports collaboration and interdisciplinary learning, provides access to mentors and resources, and fosters the development and application of practical digital health concepts for African university students.
MethodsThe eight-week virtual bootcamp brought together diverse university students from across Africa, regardless of field or level of knowledge. They received mentorship and workshop sessions on the basics of digital health concepts, such as Basic Introduction to Digital Health, Healthcare Data and Analytics, etc., to develop health solutions. They were divided into teams of five, assigned mentors for collaborative projects, and pitched them. Winners and outstanding participants were awarded cash prizes. Pre- and post-boot camp surveys were conducted to assess changes in participants’ knowledge and skills.
ResultsA total of 47 participants aged 18–35 years completed the survey, with an average age of 24, comprising 24 females (51%) and 23 males (49%). They were from 13 countries across the continent, with the majority, 20 (42%), from Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, each with 5 (11%), Kenya 4 (9%), Zambia, and Ghana, with 3 (6%) each. The remaining seven countries shared a total of 15%. Before the bootcamp, most participants (45; 94.83%) were somewhat unfamiliar with digital health concepts. After the bootcamp, (40; 82.93%) of participants reported a significant improvement in their knowledge, skills, and experience with digital health concepts.
DiscussionThe Africa Digital Health Student Bootcamp 2023 (ADHSB'23) empowered participants with digital health skills and knowledge. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in their familiarity with digital health concepts. Therefore, it is necessary to showcase this creativity and innovation to stakeholders such as digital health organizations, universities, policymakers, and the general public to raise awareness and recognition of the program.

引言
尽管非洲在多个领域取得了显著进展，但仍面临诸多公共卫生难题，其主要成因包括卫生系统融资机制不完善、缺乏稳定的领导与治理体系、熟练卫生人力短缺，以及药品与技术可及性有限。为应对这些挑战，培养未来卫生专业人才的能力、为其提供创新卫生解决方案所需的资源至关重要。为此，我们专为非洲大学生设计了一项赋能训练营，旨在支持学生协作与跨学科学习、提供导师指导与资源支持，并推动实用数字健康（Digital Health）理念的开发与应用。

研究方法
本次为期八周的线上训练营汇聚了来自非洲各地的多元大学生群体，不限专业背景与知识水平。参与者系统学习了数字健康基础概念相关的导师指导与工作坊课程，包括《数字健康基础导论》《医疗数据与分析》等，以开发卫生解决方案。他们被划分为五人小组，为各协作项目配备专属导师，并完成项目路演。优胜团队与优秀参与者将获得现金奖励。我们分别在训练营前后开展调研，以评估参与者知识与技能的变化情况。

研究结果
本次调研共回收47份有效问卷，参与者年龄介于18至35岁之间，平均年龄为24岁，其中女性24名，占比51%；男性23名，占比49%。参与者来自非洲13个国家，其中42%（20人）的参与者来自尼日利亚、坦桑尼亚与埃塞俄比亚，三国各有5人（占比11%）；肯尼亚有4人（占比9%）；赞比亚与加纳各有3人（占比6%），其余7个国家的参与者合计占比15%。训练营开展前，绝大多数参与者（45人，占比94.83%）对数字健康概念较为陌生。训练营结束后，82.93%（40人）的参与者表示其对数字健康概念的认知、技能与实践经验均有显著提升。

讨论
2023年非洲数字健康学生训练营（Africa Digital Health Student Bootcamp 2023，ADHSB'23）有效为参与者赋能，提升了其数字健康技能与知识储备。参与者对数字健康概念的熟悉程度均有显著提升。因此，有必要向数字健康机构、高校、政策制定者及社会公众等利益相关方展示本次训练营的创新成果与参与者的创意，以提升社会对该项目的认知与认可。