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HEALTHLEARN

STARTED: Incubation Program February-March 2023

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SEED GRANT: $130,000

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Marshall Thomas

Founder

MONEY FUNDRAISED TO DATE (Jan 2023): $153,000

TEAM SIZE (Jan 2023): 1 FT, 3 volunteer advisors, 3 volunteer software engineers

WEBSITE: https://healthlearn.org

Providing the world’s best online training to health workers in developing countries - a “Duolingo for health care”

CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:

  • In five years, they anticipate training hundreds of thousands of health workers and saving thousands of lives through improved quality of care

COST-EFFECTIVENESS:

  • GiveWell’s research suggests that in-person health worker training is in the range of cost-effectiveness of the charities that it currently funds. Making certain assumptions about key uncertainties, HealthLearn estimates a cost of $6 - $43 per DALY averted when operating at scale (this is >15X cash transfers). For a more complete overview of impact and cost-effectiveness, including the main uncertainties, refer to the HealthLearn evidence summary.

SIGNIFICANT UPDATES: 

  • Completed a scoping trip to Nigeria where the team met with key governmental and non-governmental organizations with a stake in the small-scale feasibility pilot 

  • Tested and evaluated their health worker training model with pilot courses on infection control and hypertension

  • Published a research paper that evaluated an early version of the infection control course using this training model, with large learning gains and high completion rates

ACHIEVEMENTS: 

  • Received written approval from the Nigerian federal Ministry of Health to move forward with the feasibility pilot of the newborn care course

  • Signed agreements with two implementing partners who will lead the pilot in Nigeria

  • Received an honorable mention in the Open Philanthropy Cause Exploration Prize competition for their research on this intervention

IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS:

  • A post on the HealthLearn site describing the details of the first visit to Nigeria 

  • An EA forum post in which they provide early estimates of the cost-effectiveness of this intervention

  • A research paper on an early pilot of HealthLearn’s online training methodology

ROOM FOR MORE FUNDING IN 2023:

  • HealthLearn is not currently fundraising, but the team could benefit from the support of volunteers with expertise in UI/UX design, front-end software engineering, medical education, and global health. The team is currently scoping out a custom web application to replace the licensed MVP it is using in its pilots. Prospective donors with an interest in catalyzing the creation of impactful open-source software are welcome to reach out to the team at contact@healthlearn.org

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