After-action Review of a U.S.-based M.S. Degree Program Delivered in Kilimanjaro, Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Future Consideration

In the world of pharmaceuticals, regulatory science is an emerging field that has goals of developing tools, drugs, devices, and practices to increase benefit and lower risk concerning safety, quality control, and effectiveness. The dangers of having a subpar, or non-existent, regulatory science practice can be costly at best, or lethal at worst. Formal education at the graduate level to train professionals is a relatively new field. Research has been conducted on the practice of regulatory science, and on the institutions educating these scientists. The University’s investment, in particular, has the ultimate goal of getting sustainable medicine to Africa. The collaboration of the University’s Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Science program with the Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy is helping to provide good regulatory practices in Africa. This is the third in a series of three papers discussing the details of curriculum, administration and now, lessons learned with challenges and opportunities for future program delivery consideration. The first paper addressed designing an applicable, theoretically sound and pragmatically implementable curriculum. The second paper focused on the risks of attending class through war torn territories, lack of information technology infrastructure, language, cultural implications, and the payment of tuition and fees as perhaps the most administratively challenging, of the challenges and opportunities documented and presented. The second paper focused on the many non-curriculum challenges and opportunities of delivering a U.S.-based M.S. degree in Kilimanjaro, Africa; a program individuals risked their lives to participate in. This paper reviews the entire program; its design, development, delivery and student evaluations. The focus of this paper will be on the many lessons learned, identifying challenges and opportunities for future consideration and potential inclusion in yet another program offering in collaboration with the Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy in Kilimanjaro, Africa. Challenges and opportunities will be presented such that others’ considering comparable international program offerings may benefit from these findings.