Education and Training

First Steps Towards Interprofessional Health Practice in Tanzania: An Educational Experiment in Rural Bagamoyo District

In this article, the authors describe a pilot program developed by a Tanzania university to train its professional students (dentists, doctors, environmental health officers, nurses, and pharmacists) to work collaboratively with each other and with other health staff at the district level to be sure that staff have the specific skills needed to work in rural districts. [adapted from abstract]

Curricular Transformation of Health Professions Education in Tanzania: The Process and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (2008-2011)

Muhimbili University launched a transformation of its curricula to better prepare graduates to lead the health system for improved outcomes for Tanzania’s largely rural and underserved population. As the magnitude of curricular change, the process, and implications for improving population health are probably unprecedented in Africa, the authors describe the complex process and specify lessons relevant to health and education. [from publisher]

Emergence of a University of Health Sciences: Health Professions Education in Tanzania

This article traces the history of health professional education in Tanzania and the development of the nation’s first health sciences university. [adapted from publisher]

Partnering on Education for Health: Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and the University of California San Francisco

This article outlines and reviews a multi-university partnership to address the health workforce crisis in Tanzania by enriching health professional education. [adapted from author]

Strengthening Health Workforce Capacity through Work-Based Training

This article outlines the development and use of an eight-month modular, in-service work-based training program in Uganda aimed at strengthening the capacity for monitoring and evaluation and continuous quality improvement in health service delivery. [adapted from abstract]

Developing European Guidelines for Training Care Professionals in Mental Health

Although mental health promotion is a priority mental health action area for all European countries, high level training resources and high quality skills acquisition in mental health promotion are still relatively rare. The aim of the current paper is to present the results of a project to develop guidelines for training social and health care professionals in mental health promotion. [adapted from abstract]

Scaling Up Specialist Training in Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from the First 12 Years of Regional Postgraduate Training in Fiji - a Case Study

In 1997, regional specialist training was established in Fiji, consisting of one-year Postgraduate Diplomas followed by three-year master’s degree programs in anesthesia, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and surgery. The evolution of these programs during the first 12 years is presented in this article. [from abstract]

Developing eLearning Technologies to Implement Competency Based Medical Education: Experiences from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences

This paper details the experience of developing an eLearning technology as a tool to implement competency-based medical education in Tanzania medical universities, inlcuding the background, early adoption attempts, challenges to implementation and lessons learned. [adapted from abstract]

Evaluating an Evidence-Based Curriculum in Undergraduate Palliative Care Education: Piloting a Phase II Exploratory Trial for a Complex Intervention

The goals of this study were to demonstrate an evidence-based approach towards developing undergraduate palliative care educatio ncurricula and investigate the change in medical students’ self-perceived readiness to deal with palliative care patients and their families. [from abstract]

Training Module on Development of Health Workforce Strategic Plans

This guide is to help the facilitators and trainers in
organizing training in their countries to create health workforce strategic plans. The training is based on the World Health Organization’s Regional Guidelines for the Development of the
Health Workforce Strategic Plan in countries of the South-East Asia Region. [adapted from author]

Seven Years of the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: An Internal Evaluation

Beginning in 2001, the National Institute of Epidemiology admitted 80 trainees in its two-year field epidemiology training programme. This article evaluated the first seven years of the programme to identify strengths and weaknesses. [adapted from author]

Protocol for the Effective Feedback to Improve Primary Care Prescribing Safety (EFIPPS) Study: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial Using ePrescribing Data

High-risk prescribing in primary care is common and causes considerable harm. Feedback interventions to improve care are attractive because they are relatively cheap to widely implement. There is good evidence that feedback has small to moderate effects, but the most recent Cochrane review called for more high-quality, large trials that explicitly test different forms of feedback. This paper describes a protocol for a cluster-randomised trial evaluating the impact on high-risk prescribing of two different designs of feedback compared to a simple educational message. [from author]

Community Discussion Guide for Maternal and Newborn Health Care: A Training Manual for Safe Motherhood Action Groups

This guide contains detailed guidance on how to train safe motherhood action group volunteers in two key areas of their portfolio – maternal and newborn health care.

Effectiveness on Teachers' Training in Assessment Techniques: Participants' Perception

This questionnaire-based survey was carried out to find out the effectiveness of teachers training for medical education faculty on assessment (student evaluation) techniques. [adapted from author]

Promise of Competency-Based Education in the Health Professions for Improving Global Health

Competency-based education (CBE) provides a useful alternative to time-based models for preparing health professionals and constructing educational programs. The authors argue that because CBE begins with a careful consideration of the competencies desired in the health professional workforce to address health care priorities, it provides a vehicle for integrating the health needs of the country with the values of the profession. [from abstract]

Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online Resource Improves Performance of Practical Skills: A Controlled Trial

The aim of this study was to determine whether the an online eLearning resource in addition to usual teaching improved the performance of practical skills in physiotherapy students. [adapted from abstract]

Effects of Changes in the Pre-Licensure Education of Health Workers on Health Worker Supply (Review)

This review evaluates the available literature to assess the effect of changes in the pre-licensure education of health professionals on health-worker supply. [adapted from abstract]

Improving Primary Care in British Columbia, Canada: Evaluation of a Peer-to-Peer Continuing Education Program for Family Physicians

This study evaluated participant satisfaction of an interactive educational program that offers peer-to-peer training to physicians and their office staff on topics ranging from clinical tools/skills to office management relevant to general practitioner practices. [adapted from abstract]

Assessment of a Complementary Curricular Strategy for Training South African Physicians in a Cuban Medical University

Although the ethical, humanistic and solidarity Cuba’s general medical training program does not provide all skills needed by a general practitioner in South Africa, so Cuba has applied a curricular strategy of 12 complementary courses to develop the requested additional skills. The objective of this study was to determine why the complementary curricular strategy has not been entirely successful and identify possible courses of action for improvement. [adapted from abstract]

Evolution of Global Health Teaching in Undergraduate Medical Curricula

This article traces the evolution of global health teaching in undergraduate medical curricula and presents recommendations for how the discipline might develop in future years. [adapted from abstract]

Teaching of Evidence-Based Medicine to Medical Students in Mexico: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The main objective of this study was to assess evidence-based medicine learning (knowledge, attitudes and self-reported skills) in undergraduate medical students with a randomized controlled trial. [from abstract]

Method for Developing Standardised Interactive Education for Complex Clinical Guidelines

The aim of this study was to transform the Clinical Practice Guideline for Perinatal Mortality into an education workshop to develop quality standardised interactive education acceptable to participants for learning skills in collaborative interprofessional care. [adapted from abstract]

Training Resource Package for Family Planning

This resource contains curriculum components and tools needed to design, implement, and evaluate training. It offers essential resources for family planning and reproductive health trainers, supervisors, and program managers. The entire package is designed to support up-to-date training on family planning and reproductive health.

Transportability of Tertiary Qualifications and CPD: A Continuing Challenge for the Global Health Workforce

This paper outlines the shortfall of the current indicators in assisting the global certification and competency recognition in the health care workforce. Through a series of case studies, it then describes a model which enables institutions to compare themselves internally and with others internationally using prioritised parameters rather than standards. [adapted from abstract]

Effectiveness of Strategies Incorporating Training and Support of Traditional Birth Attendants on Perinatal and Maternal Mortality: Meta-Analysis

The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants on the outcomes of perinatal, neonatal, and maternal death in developing countries. [from abstract]

Mobile Learning for HIV/AIDS Health Care Workers' Training in Resource-Limited Settings

This paper gives an overview of the approaches, methods and materials used in a mobile-based educational platform designed to enable health care workers involved in HIV/AIDS care in urban peripheral stations in Peru to access the state-of-the-art in HIV treatment and care. [adapted from introduction]

Utilizing eLearning to Strengthen the Capacity of Global Health Practitioners and Institutions around the World

This paper presents eLearning as a solution for strengthening human resources for health as well as organizational capacity of regional and local nongovernmental organizations in developing countries. [from abstract]

Staff's Perception of Abuse in Healthcare: A Swedish Qualitative Study

The study objective was to apprehend changes in the attitude of healthcare staff to abuse in healthcare after an intervention, based on a program called “Forum Play.” [adapted from author]

Recall of Lost to Follow-Up Pre-Antiretroviral Therapy Patients in the Eastern Cape: Effect of Mentoring on Patient Care

This study sought to prove that mentoring plays an important role in professional nurse training and support and that recall of lost-to-follow-up patients is feasible and effective in improving ART services in rural settings. [adapted from author]

Reforming Nursing Education in Egypt: A Case Study in Reform Management

The case study outlines a program of nursing reform in Egypt to correct shortages and improve nursing quality by restructuring nursing education.