Abstract
Historically the impact of many health professional training initiatives in low-income countries has been limited by narrow focus on a small set of diseases inefficient utilization of donor funding inadequate scale up insufficient emphasis on the acquisition of practical skills poor alignment with local priorities and lack of coordination. Fortunately several innovative training initiatives have emerged over the past five years in sub-Saharan Africa. This article focuses on four initiatives funded by the United States government: the Medical Education Training Partnership Initiative (MEPI) the Nursing Training Partnership Initiative (NEPI) the Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program (HRH Program) and the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP). The best practices adopted by these initiatives are: alignment to local priorities country ownership competency-based training institutional capacity building and the establishment of long-lasting partnerships with international stakeholders. Based on these best practices we outline a framework for health professional training initiatives that can help better address the health workforce shortage in low-income countries. Summary points.
Highlights
The Global Shortage of Health ProfessionalsThe immense suffering taking place in West Africa due to the Ebola epidemic is a tragic and powerful example of an “acute on chronic” problem facing many low-income countries: the health workforce shortage [1].PLOS Medicine | DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001840 June 16, 2015President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; USAID, US Agency for International Development.Provenance: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewedInsufficient training capacity and the “brain drain” of health professionals from Africa are principal drivers of the current situation [1,2,3]
We focus here on four health professional training initiatives funded entirely or partially by the US government that have emerged over the past five years to address these shortages in sub-Saharan Africa
Given this commitment to sustained mentorship and supervision, Medical Education Training Partnership Initiative (MEPI), the Human Resources for Health Program (HRH) Program, and Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) have all established “teaching” hospitals, health centers, and communities where trainees can witness firsthand how high-quality health care is delivered and good governance pursued across all levels of the health system [15,24,34]
Summary
The impact of many health professional training initiatives in low-income countries has been limited by narrow focus on a small set of diseases, inefficient utilization of donor funding, inadequate scale up, insufficient emphasis on the acquisition of practical skills, poor alignment with local priorities, and lack of coordination. Several innovative training initiatives have emerged over the past five years in sub-Saharan Africa. This articles focuses on four initiatives funded by the United States government: the Medical Education Training Partnership Initiative (MEPI), the Nursing Training Partnership Initiative (NEPI), the Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program (HRH Program), and the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP). Based on these best practices, we outline a framework for health professional training initiatives that can help better address the health workforce shortage in low-income countries
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
