Assessment tool to transform country's health workforce

By Agnes Nantambi

The world Health Organization (WHO) has formulated an assessment tool for transforming health workforce in its member countries. Dr Erica Wheeler a technical officer has revealed.

Speaking during a three day second annual Eastern Africa Health Professionals Educators Association (EAHPEA) conference in Kampala Dr Wheeler said:

"This is intended to help WHO work with countries and all the stake holders at country level to look at the status of health work force education.

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 L-R: Prof Nelson Sewankambo, Principal of the College of health sciences Makerere University having a chat with Prof Magid Kagimu as VC Makerere University, Dumba Sentamu. looks on. Photo/ Agnes Nantambi
                     

“By this I mean, we shall be looking at issues like, are there enough health workers; which kind of education are they receiving; is the curriculum tuned to evolving the health need of the population; so the idea is to be able to assess what is going on in each country,” she explained.

She stressed that in addition to looking at issues strictly dealing in education, the tool will also look at health service delivery and how operational research is supporting health service delivery in a country context.

She observed that at a country level, not enough is being done is countries to incorporate issues around population need into the health work force education policies.

“What tends to happen is that the emerging diseases and challenges countries face, they are ahead of the curriculum of the health professionals in most instances and therefore the need to be transformative.

The idea to develop the tool, she said, was reached on by countries during the Geneva assembly and the formulation is being conducted by professional, educational experts and policy makers from various countries basing on each country’s priority.

She added that, part of what they are thinking and planning in transformative education is looking at who is being recruited to be a health professional, emphasizing that the tool will be looking at things that are not normally looked at in a particular country.

“We want to be in charge of how health students are being recruited; are we only looking at academic qualification or at other skills that are needed like problem solving, team work, communication and all types of skills that are needed to build on in pre-service education so that it starts right from secondly level,” she said.

She said the tool will be looking at the secondly school curriculum by asking questions about what is being taught and help to identify needs to be changed to get the kind of the health workers that are needed for the 24th century.

The conference under the theme “strengthening systems for health professional’s education” was organized by Makerere University in conjunction with Eastern Africa Health Professionals Educators Association (EAHPEA) and drew participants from all the EAC countries.

Prof Sarah Kiguli, the chairperson of the association, observed that countries including Uganda still have a challenge of just admitting those who score highly at A-level yet have no love for the profession.

“Are these the right people to be selected to become nurses, doctors and other health workers? We the need to improve and get students from all over the country who want to serve the country other than looking at good grades,” she recommended.

Prof Kiguli, who is also the head of pediatrics and child health department at the school of medicine Makerere University, complained of poor infrastructure, resources, trainers and training equipment.

“Our classrooms are the hospitals and health centres yet we train from the job; we need to address this so that we get people who can serve the population better,” she pleaded.

She called for the highest political commitment from government to enhance increased number of trained health workers and motivation to allow them stay and serve their nation.

Makerere University vice chancellor Prof John Dumba Sentamu admitted that there is still a gap in the systems for the training and education of health professionals in East Africa.

He attributed this to inequity in admission criteria of students to health profession institutions, inappropriate curricula, which does not address the health needs of the population, inappropriate methods of training and education, inadequate learning environment and inadequate opportunities for continuous professional development among others.

Dumba challenged all member institutions to come up with appropriate innovative methods of training of health professional on top of stake holders coming up with policies and strategies that will lead to equity in admission of students to health professions Programme.