Frontiers Publication: Health diplomacy training, pedagogical approaches, and Skills assessment: a Scoping Review

Understanding how health, domestic and foreign policy, and international relations intersect is necessary for addressing both local and global issues like pandemics, climate change, and migration. These matters lead to health, social, economic, and geopolitical challenges that require coordinated responses involving national and international organizations as well as the public.

The study conducted a scoping review of eight published training initiatives and frameworks between 2017 and 2025. These included a variety of formats such as workshops, academic courses, and professional pathways, targeting mainly students, early-career professionals, and some experienced diplomats.

This review analyzes current health diplomacy education, highlighting the growing importance in addressing global and domestic health issues. It finds that most programs are underdeveloped in critical skills such as negotiation, cross-cultural communication, and policy. These programs mostly target students and early-career professionals, with some designed for experienced diplomats. The modalities of teaching are primarily delivered in person, though blended formats are becoming more common. Teaching focuses on experiential learning methods and key competencies such as leadership and crisis management. Evaluations are normally short-term and self-reported, with limited evidence of lasting impact.

For any questions related to this publication, feel free to reach out to Dean Ashish Joshi at Ashish.joshi@memphis.edu

Collaborators

1. Ashish Joshi, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
2. Laura Magaña, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), Washington, United States
3. Niharika Jha, Graduate Research Assistant, PhD student in Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
4. Robert Otok, Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), Brussels, Belgium
5. Ntuli A. Kapologwe, General, East Central and Southern Africa Health Community, Arusha, Tanzania
6. Luís d. Sampaio, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
7. Erica Kastrup, CRIS Center for International Relations in Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
8. Woldekidan K. Amde, School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
9. Rajendra Surenthirakumaran, Department of Community Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
10. Ayman El-Mohandes, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, New York, United States
11. Rodrigo Siqueira Reis, People, Health and Place Unit, Washington University in St. Louis Prevention Research Center, St. Louis, United States
12. Soyoon Kim, Department of Medical Law and Ethics, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
13. Catherine Kane, Independent Researcher, Geneva, Switzerland
14. Tim K. Mackey, Global Health Program, Department of Anthropology, University of San Diego, San Diego, United States
15. William Yotive, World Federation of United Nations Associations, Geneva, Switzerland
16. Henrique Barros, Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
17. Ramune Kalėdienė, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
18. Josep Figueras, Director Emeritus, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels, Belgium
19. Matthew D. Brown, Global Health Policy and Data Institute, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States

Link: Frontiers | Health diplomacy training, pedagogical approaches, and skills assessment: a scoping review