Professor Teaches Health Economics in Bhutan.

Research Professor of Global Health Bruce Larson began his summer teaching a one-week course on health economics at Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB).

Focusing on applied costing analysis, the course was offered to KGUMSB faculty and Ministry of Health staff, and supported by the Ministry and the Bhutan Foundation.

KGUMSB opened its doors in February 2015. “Health economics is not necessarily a core component of public health schools when they’re first developed,” Larson says. “In public health interventions, the first thing that people think about is, ‘Is it effective?’ The second question that comes up is, ‘What does it cost?’” The course, he says, addressed “the second part of the puzzle.”

Larson says the course also represents a developing relationship between the School of Public Health and KGUMSB. Last year, Frank “Rich” Feeley, associate professor of global health and then-interim chair for the department, visited the new school at the invitation of alumnus Gampo Dorji (’14), who was working at the Bhutanese Health Ministry. BU and KGUMS went on to sign an official Memorandum of Understanding, and collaboration began with Larson’s summer course.

“I think BU and Khesar Gyalpo University have an opportunity to develop a very collaborative partnership,” Larson says. “It’s going to be interesting to see how that evolves over time.”

—Michelle Samuels