Transforming Health Professional Preservice Education to Meet National Needs

This effort contributed to the education of over 9,000 new health workers and built the capacity of these schools to continue scaling up production of graduates and improving the efficiency and quality of their programs. The global health workforce shortage necessitates the education and training of more health workers, particularly in Africa where health needs are greatest. Preservice education institutions must ensure that graduates develop the competencies needed to address local health needs, particularly in underserved areas. The one to six years of preservice education that health workers receive have a profound impact on the subsequent 30 to 40 years that they practice and represent the best investment countries can make to ensure that health workers with the right skills are practicing in the right communities. CapacityPlus provided leadership in developing, testing, and building capacity in the use of innovative approaches and tools to address common challenges in scaling up and transforming health workforce education and training. The project developed the Bottlenecks and Best Buys Approach, which has been adapted and applied in more than 30 nursing, midwifery, medical, health assistant, and community health worker schools in seven African countries. This tool allows stakeholders to consider a range of issues that might impede a school's ability to increase the number or skills of its graduates and identify and prioritize actions that can efficiently address those issues. CapacityPlus also developed a comprehensive Guide and Tools for Strengthening School Management, tested in Ghana and South Africa. This package builds the capacity of school leaders to use existing resources more efficiently and effectively. The tools guide school leaders through a cyclical process of assessment, planning, and improvement in key management areas, including leadership and governance, strategic planning, external relations, financial resources, personnel, students, equipment and materials, facilities and infrastructure, and evaluation and knowledge management. The project's school management package includes the Dean's Dashboard, an open source software application that can be customized according to schools' needs to track progress in areas such as infrastructure management, student academic progress, and faculty productivity. CapacityPlus supported the application of its preservice education approaches and tools by 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to the education of over 9,000 additional health worker graduates between 2012 and 2015. The capacity built in terms of increased quality and quantity of teaching staff, improved learning materials and equipment, more effective school management, updated curricula, and enhanced collaboration among schools, health facilities, government authorities, and graduates will contribute to producing greater numbers of competent and qualified graduates for years to come.