Continuing Professional Development for Health Professionals in sub-Saharan Africa

Ngatia, Peter

A commitment to lifelong learning is a health practitioner’s duty, an ethical responsibility, and an integral part of professionalism. Health workers need to keep themselves updated with new knowledge, skills and technologies in order to cope with the demands of the ever changing and growing populations. Continuous Professional Development (CPD), “a learning process outside the formal basic training” offers the practitioners the opportunity to learn and to maintain and improve standards of practice[i] to provide high quality care that is contemporary.

Health workers agree that CPD is a good practice but they reluctantly participate. A survey conducted by AMREF in 2011in ten sub-Saharan Africa countries revealed that there were no curricula and learning materials dedicated to CPD in 8 out of the 10 countries[ii]. But the practitioners were very clear about their training needs. “Training in Leadership and Management” had the highest responses. They wish to have skills that they can use to improve their job performance and to obtain higher job status.

This paper proposes a four pronged strategy for implementation of CPD in sub-Saharan Africa; First, to determine the needs of the health professionals. The second is to establish mechanisms of implementation that entail the right expertise and methodologies in CPD. Third, ensure that CPD leads to professionally accredited qualifications. And finally, a strong Monitoring and Evaluation Framework is incorporated to continuously monitor results/outcomes, impact and cost effectiveness[iii] of CPD.

Learning Objectives: N/A