Professional development for health workers in East Africa

See also

Full workshop report (PDF 27 pages 415 KB)

Report from first CPD workshop, Uganda 2002

Report from second CPD workshop, Nairobi 2003

More about CME in East Africa

Report from consultative meeting on CME and the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Kenya, July 2003, Amref and AfriAfya (PDF 30 pages 375KB)

Conference report on ICTs and CME in East and Southern Africa Tanzania 2003, IICD (PDF 46 pages)

Consultation workshop, Dar-es-Salaam, October 2004

Continuing professional development (CPD) for all health workers is set to become a reality in East Africa.

Joint recommendations on CPD by the medical associations, councils and regulatory boards of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were finalised at a consultation workshop in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in October 2004.

This is a significant step forward that builds on the consensus reached at the first consultation workshop in Uganda in 2002 and at the second workshop in Nairobi, Kenya in 2003. Exchange supported the three workshops.

A joint approach to accreditation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of CPD in the three countries will enable health workers at all levels to maintain their skills, access relevant information and provide an agreed standard of care. CPD is particularly important for rural health workers who often work in isolation.

Learning from each other

The delegates at the three workshops reported that they had learned a great deal from each other. For example representatives from Kenya and Tanzania were inspired by Uganda’s policy of making CPD mandatory for health workers and a condition of renewing their certificates. This policy now forms one of the joint recommendations.

Face-to-face learning such as role play in clinical situations, discussions that include a range of health workers, and attending courses and meetings were seen as the most useful learning opportunities for health workers.

A role for distance learning was also identified, along with the need for health workers to learn new study skills and how to use computers.

Working at all levels

The recommendations from the third workshop include specific roles for the different stakeholders:

• Professional medical associations focus on mobilising their individual members to take advantage of CPD and provide practical support such as identifying training courses, facilitating peer reviews and disseminating information through resource centres.
• Councils and boards regulate the delivery and accreditation of CPD and use the registration process to ensure individuals and institutions meet the standards of safe professional performance.
• Ministries of health include professionally developed CPD guidelines and standards of care in health policy.

Funding and coordination

National CPD councils are recommended to push forward the implementation. A cross-regional coordinating body will help raise the profile of CPD and ensure consistent services. Capacity development and administrative staff will be needed to support this process.

Ring-fenced funding from each country's ministry of health is one of the key recommendations from the CPD workshops. Engaging pharmaceutical companies to deliver subsidised accredited training sessions rather than product promotion is another idea that emerged.

Interim tools to monitor the delivery of CPD - attendance certificates, evaluation questionnaires, personal reflection forms and diaries - were recommended until a full audit system could be established.

Embedding learning into the health institutions of East Africa was emphasised at the third workshop as the key to attracting donor funding.

What next?

The report from the third consultation workshop is being formally tabled at the next meeting of the East African Community Sectoral Council of Ministers for Health in Arusha, Tanzania on 12-15 April 2005.

More learning from practice