On May 16th, 27 practitioners from around the world completed the professional certificate program in Health & Humanitarian Supply Chain Management at Georgia Tech, offered by the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (HHS). The 2015 class brought together a geographically diverse group of students, who have lived and worked in 42 different countries, and who offered extensive experienceand insights from the global health and humanitarian sectors.

The certificate program consists of three courses: Pre-planning Strategy for Health and Humanitarian Organizations; Tactical Decision Making in Public Health and Humanitarian Response; Systems Operations in Health and Humanitarian Response. It is offered in a 6-day format (2 days per course), which enables individuals traveling from outside of Atlanta the opportunity to earn a certificate in less than a week. The blended delivery format includes pre-course reading assignments, in-class lectures, discussion, interactive games and group work.

Course topics focus on logistics and supply-chain management related to a broad range of activities including preparing, responding to, and recovery from natural and man-made disasters, as well as ongoing humanitarian crises due to war, famine, infectious diseases, and chronic health problems. Participants valued the diverse group of experiences among their classmates and the opportunities to network with and learn from each other as well as the practical applications and group simulation activities which gave them new approaches to challenges in their areas of work.

Amanda Paniagua, Shipments Manager at MedShare International Atlanta headquarters reflected: “The professors were exceptional and incredibly knowledgeable on all things supply chain. I also learned so much just from hearing other students share their experiences from the field in class.” Likewise, Kenny Onasanya, Procurement team lead for Crown Agents in Nigeria, emphasized the “scope of subjects covered, practical case studies in diverse sectors from health, education and other public sector projects.” The “practical and interactive training” also helped practitioners such as Bob Muteeganda, Supply officer at the United Nations Ivory Coast, to “understand the theory behind practices in the industry.” He reflected: “I now feel well prepared to reorient my career to the health and humanitarian supply chain management sector.”

The HHS Center is fortunate to provide a limited number of scholarships for program participants which were made possible through the generosity of The UPS Foundation, Andrea L. Laliberte, Pete Quinones, and Richard E. and Charlene O. Zalesky. This year’s scholarship recipients represented organizations such as Family Health International (FHI 360), Last Mile Health, MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Save the Children, USAID and World Vision in addition to United Nations agencies such as UNICEF, UNHCR and the UN World Food Programme. Other course participants included representatives from national ministries of health in their countries, non-governmental organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, MedShare, and Partners in Health, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The 2015 courses were led by HHS Center Co-Directors, Drs. Özlem Ergun, Pinar Keskinocak and Julie Swann. Guest speakers included Georgia Tech faculty member and supply chain expert Dr. John Bartholdi; Rollins Professor and chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory University, Dr. Carlos Del Rio; Medical Officer assigned to the Emergency Response and Recovery Branch (ERRB) at the Center for Global Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Mark Anderson; and Academic Director of the Master of Advanced Studies in Humanitarian Logistics and Management (MASHLM) at the University of Lugano, Switzerland, Paulo Gonçalves.

For more information about the scholarships or to sponsor students for scholarships in 2016, please visit: http://hhls.scl.gatech.edu. For more information about the courses, visit: http://www.scl.gatech.edu/professional-education/HHL/ or email: hhscenter@isye.gatech.edu.