The African digital health student bootcamp: bridging education, workforce, and practice gaps for healthcare innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: Africa, despite significant progress in various sectors, continues to face public health issues largely due to factors such as inadequate health system financing mechanisms, lack of stable leadership and governance, shortage of skilled health workforce, and limited access to drugs and technologies. To address these challenges, it is crucial to build the capacity of future professionals, providing them with resources to innovate health solutions. As such, we designed a bootcamp that empowers students, supports collaboration and interdisciplinary learning, provides access to mentors and resources, and fosters the development and application of practical digital health concepts for African university students. Methods: The eight-week virtual bootcamp brought together diverse university students from across Africa, regardless of field or level of knowledge. They received mentorship and workshop sessions on the basics of digital health concepts, such as Basic Introduction to Digital Health, Healthcare Data and Analytics, etc., to develop health solutions. They were divided into teams of five, assigned mentors for collaborative projects, and pitched them. Winners and outstanding participants were awarded cash prizes. Pre- and post-boot camp surveys were conducted to assess changes in participants' knowledge and skills. Results: A total of 47 participants aged 18-35 years completed the survey, with an average age of 24, comprising 24 females (51%) and 23 males (49%). They were from 13 countries across the continent, with the majority, 20 (42%), from Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, each with 5 (11%), Kenya 4 (9%), Zambia, and Ghana, with 3 (6%) each. The remaining seven countries shared a total of 15%. Before the bootcamp, most participants (45; 94.83%) were somewhat unfamiliar with digital health concepts. After the bootcamp, (40; 82.93%) of participants reported a significant improvement in their knowledge, skills, and experience with digital health concepts. Discussion: The Africa Digital Health Student Bootcamp 2023 (ADHSB'23) empowered participants with digital health skills and knowledge. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in their familiarity with digital health concepts. Therefore, it is necessary to showcase this creativity and innovation to stakeholders such as digital health organizations, universities, policymakers, and the general public to raise awareness and recognition of the program.