Abstract
Introductionin-service training of healthcare workers is essential for improving healthcare services and outcome.MethodsThe Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 Partnership for African Clinical Training (M-PACT) program was an innovative in-service training approach designed and implemented by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and West African College of Physicians (WACP) with funding from Eco Bank Foundation. The goal was to develop sustainable capacity to tackle MDG 6 targets in West Africa through better postgraduate medical education. Five training centres were establised: Nigeria (Abuja, Ibadan), Ghana (Accra), Senegal (Dakar) and Sierra Leone (Freetown) for training 681 physicians from across West Africa. A curriculum jointly designed by the RCP-WACP team was used to deliver biannual 5-day training courses over a 3-year period.ResultsOf 602 trained in clinical medicine, 358 (59.5%) were males and 535 (88.9%) were from hosting countries. 472 (78.4%) of participants received travel bursaries to participate, while 318 (52.8%) were residents in Internal Medicine in the respective institutions. Accra had the highest number of participants (29.7%) followed by Ibadan, (28.7%), Dakar, (24.9%), Abuja, (11.0%) and Freetown, (5.6%). Pre-course clinical knowledge scores ranged from 35.1% in the Freetown Course to 63.8% in Accra Course 1; whereas post-course scores ranged from 50.5% in the Freetown course to 73.8% in Accra course 1.ConclusionM-PACT made a positive impact to quality and outcome of healthcare services in the region and is a model for continued improvement for healthcare outcomes, e.g malaria, HIV and TB incidence and mortality in West Africa.
Highlights
There are serious disparities in the distribution, specialization, diversity and competency of the healthcare workforce across the world
The Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) and West African College of Physicians (WACP) initiated the M-PACT program with funding obtained from Eco Bank Foundation (Lomé, Togo) to train 681 physicians from across the West African region in the postgraduate skills of medical leadership, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS
We trained a total of 703 doctors across the five centres, drawn from 12 West African countries of whom 101 (16.8%) were trained in the Doctors as Educators (DAE) courses (Figure 2)
Summary
There are serious disparities in the distribution, specialization, diversity and competency of the healthcare workforce across the world. Countries with fewer healthcare professionals have poorer health outcomes, compared to those that have a larger number of better trained individuals [1]. In-service training of physicians has become an established requirement in many countries and is common among physicians studying for postgraduate medical qualifications around the world. When medical careers are not linked to postgraduate medical degrees and diplomas, or to governmental revalidation requirements for medical licensing, physicians in many countries often fail to attend continuous professional development training. Outside the remit of postgraduate degrees, annual licensing and compulsory update courses, there are several areas of postgraduate development to which physicians ought to be exposed regularly in order to improve healthcare outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. In-service training represents a significant financial governmental investment for supporting continued competence of the healthcare workforce in West Africa [4]. On the other hand, decreasing global resources are a critical limitation to increased access to in-service training, as income from the petrochemical industry, that might have funded such projects in the past, is at a relative nadir currently in West Africa
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