Driving the global public health research agenda forward by promoting the participation of students and new researchers: perspectives from Quebec.

OBJECTIVES: Current trends suggest a movement towards driving forward a global health research agenda in Canada in order to redress global health research inequalities. In this paper, we explore how to promote the participation of students and new researchers in global health in Quebec. To accomplish this, we undertook a study in order to: 1) document the state of teaching and research activities in global health in Quebec and 2) obtain the point of view of various actors on conducting global health research in the Quebec context.

METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through specialized grids and a documentation review (5 major universities), surveys (n=25), individual interviews (n=9), and two convened workshops (n=79).

RESULTS: We identified 27 courses with global health content, 36 researchers in Quebec working primarily on global health issues, and 76 global health research projects implemented over the past 5 years. A number of threats and opportunities were reported with regards to engaging in global health research activities, as were a number of strengths and weaknesses with respect to the teaching and research environments in Quebec.

CONCLUSION: There appears to be a relatively strong and growing presence of global health in Quebec universities--although the situation varies across institutions--with room for expansion. This trend is partly attributed to an increase in federal funding for and a growing awareness and profile of global health research activities since 2001 and to a growing expertise in global health research in the province. Students and new researchers, however, continue to face multiple challenges requiring special attention and targeted investment. We conclude with a set of recommendations for key stakeholders.