The Knowledge library

Education and Training

iHRIS Train: An Open Source Tool for Managing Health Worker Training

An overview of iHRIS Train, open source software for managing data on the education of health professionals. iHRIS Train is part of the iHRIS software for health workforce management.

Reforming Health Education Institutions to Eliminate Gender Discrimination

Gender inequalities in admission, retention, and graduation are recognized as significant barriers to achieving preservice education goals. Less attention has been paid to how gender discrimination affects students’ education and career opportunities and faculty professional development, career opportunities, and satisfaction. CapacityPlus compiled and analyzed literature on gender discrimination in higher education, including health worker preservice education. Additional information was gathered by contacting institution staff and reviewing institutional websites. Presented at the 2014 Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Pattaya, Thailand on January 27–31, 2014, this poster summarizes the review, highlights lessons learned by the Kenya Medical Training College, and recommends key actions that stakeholders can take at institutional and governmental levels to counter gender discrimination.

Scholarship Ceremony at the Gao Nursing School in Mali

To help make it possible for nursing and midwifery students to continue (or begin) their training, CapacityPlus provided 204 financial scholarships to the students most in need. On December 18, 2013, the school hosted a ceremony to award scholarships to recipients—who comprise 37% of the student body—and to receive new equipment and supplies. This seven-minute video was produced by the Office of Radio and Television of Mali (ORTM); English subtitles added by IntraHealth International. To learn more, read the related article.

The Medical Education Partnership Initiative Physician Tracking Technical Working Group: Functional Requirements and Data Specifications Development Workshop

The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Physician Tracking Technical Working Group convened a workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, to develop the functional requirements and business processes necessary to construct a framework for tracking graduates. Held on October 21–23, 2013, the workshop was a collaborative effort among the chair of the Technical Working Group, the MEPI Coordinating Center, CapacityPlus, and the Public Health Informatics Institute. Each participating school formulated a graduate tracking vision and identified needed tools and guidance. The group selected software, capacity-building, and infrastructure as the top three priorities on which the MEPI Technical Working Group should focus its time and energy. Going forward, participants agreed to share what each institution is doing to develop graduate tracking, hold institutions accountable for their progress, network to sustain momentum, jointly develop graduate tracking tools, collaborate to develop articles, and assist institutions in tracking graduates across borders.

Achieving HRH Commitments: Lessons Learned and Resources from CapacityPlus

This presentation was given at the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Recife, Brazil, during the CapacityPlus side session on November 9, 2013. Project leaders shared innovative resources and lessons learned from their application at the country level in the areas of health workforce planning, production, management, performance, and retention.

Innovative Financing for Preservice Education of Health Professionals

In an environment of limited resources, educational institutions must be creative in finding financial resources. This free eLearning course provides an overview of creative financing mechanisms designed to help a health professional education institution reach its funding goals. Participants will learn how to select, prioritize, and implement new financing mechanisms.

Private-Sector Participation in Preservice Health Education

Private health professional schools are expanding rapidly. With health training needs increasing and developing country budgets not keeping pace, private-sector schools will soon produce more health workers than public-sector institutions. This free eLearning course explores critical success factors in private-sector health education and training that are also relevant to public institutions.

Evaluation of Spaced Education as a Learning Methodology for In-Service Training of Health Workers in Ethiopia

Participation in in-service training can be a challenge for health workers, especially those stationed in remote areas. Spaced education is an innovative learning methodology that can be delivered electronically by Internet or mobile smartphone. CapacityPlus conducted a pilot study that followed a convenience sample of 37 Ethiopian nationals enrolled in a spaced education course over a six-month period to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of the methodology in a low-resource context. The course content was codeveloped by Ethiopian and international nutrition experts and focused on the recently revised Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health guidelines on the feeding of infants of HIV-positive mothers. The study suggests that the Internet-based spaced education methodology is acceptable and effective for the acquisition of knowledge in a low-resource context for course participants with a clinical or public health background and moderately reliable Internet access. More research is needed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the methodology among a wider population of health workers in developing countries, and particularly among government and volunteer health workers in rural and remote settings.