The Health, Humanitarian & Leadership (HHL) Programme (formerly known as the Global Health & Leadership (GoHelp/GHL) is an NUS Medicine undergraduate service-learning programme. Established in 2016, it guides student-led projects in making meaningful and sustainable difference in health outcomes for local or international communities.
Today’s healthcare professionals face increasingly profound challenges serving communities in need. Widening healthcare disparities and the need to work with complex, dynamic social infrastructures means there is an increasing need for healthcare professionals in training to develop critical, creative thinking for real-world problem solving and the ability to innovate to meet the needs of marginalized individuals and communities locally and globally.
At the heart of this service-learning programme is respect for human life, alleviating suffering and maintaining human dignity through community-based interventions. This programme is designed with the support of community partners, and provides platforms to nurture community-responsive and compassionate healthcare leaders of tomorrow.
Students will be taught cross-disciplinary skills and mentored by leaders in health humanitarianism outreach both locally and internationally. This curriculum lets students learn and grow as they serve others. Modules cover a broad range of relevant topics, including community project design, monitoring and evaluation training, community service leadership development, social innovation, global health and humanitarian action, compassion training, etc.
With the necessary knowledge and skills, students are then placed with community project teams. These projects provide them with opportunities to apply their learning under mentorship guidance. Students learn by active construction of ideas and design of projects, presenting these initiatives to pitch for support and funding, implementing the project, and then jointly reflecting upon and evaluating their work.
