Cultivating global health professionals: evaluation of a training course to develop international consulting service competence in China

Background: China's accelerating development and increasingly important role in global health engagement create a great demand for global health professionals including international consulting experts. This study reported the detailed development and evaluation of an international consulting training for global health workforce. Methods: Based on Kirkpatrick's model, a mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Quantitative and qualitative data on participants' reaction, learning, and application of the learned knowledge and skills were collected by a training evaluation survey at the ending of training and a follow-up interview in three months after the training. Results: Thirty-six participants attended the training and 34 of them completed quantitative investigation. The training satisfaction evaluations were positive, for which participants rated the training program highly and over 90% of them agreed with the usefulness of the training. About knowledge and skills change, participants showed improved consulting knowledge and skills from pre- to post-training (P<0.001). A total of 23 participants accepted follow-up interview, and most participants applied knowledge and skills learned from the training in their daily work or study. However, only 30.4% of participants applied their learning in the consulting program. The largest barrier of application was the lack of consulting opportunities. In addition, almost all the participants reported that they would be glad to attend more training courses in the future. Conclusion: The international consulting training program was well-received, and was feasible to improve the consulting service competence of global health professionals. According to participants' feedback, it is essential to develop and expand consulting training in the field of global health.