Knowledge Library

The PEPFAR-funded Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) aims to support
medical education and research in sub-Saharan African institutions. The intention is to increase the quantity, quality, and retention of graduates with specific skills addressing the health needs of their populations. While many MEPI programs include elements of community-based education (CBE), such as community placements, clinical rotations in underserved locations, community medicine, or primary health care, the challenge identified by MEPI-supported schools was the need for appropriate approaches and tools to evaluate these activities. This article, co-authored by Rebecca Bailey and Heather Ross of CapacityPlus, outlines the process of identifying tools that, with modification, could assist in the evaluation of CBE programs in participating MEPI schools.

PEPFAR's Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) supports medical schools in Africa to increase the capacity and quality of medical education, improve retention of graduates, and promote regionally relevant research. Many MEPI programmes include elements of community-based education (CBE) such as: community placements; clinical rotations in underserved locations, community medicine, or primary health; situational analyses; or student-led research.CapacityPlus and the MEPI Coordinating Center conducted a workshop to share good practices for CBE evaluation, identify approaches that can be used for CBE evaluation in the African context, and strengthen a network of CBE collaborators.This report describes key insights from the workshop, and highlights plans for CBE evaluation among the MEPI institutions.This workshop clearly demonstrated the widespread interest in improving CBE evaluation efforts and a need to develop, implement, and disseminate rigorous approaches and tools relevant to the African context.

Health workforce leaders may not be aware of the ways in which gender discrimination impedes efforts to develop, efficiently deploy, and fairly compensate their workforce. This can result in maldistribution, absenteeism, and a limited pool of motivated health workers, which can negatively impact the provision of health care. This advocacy tool helps users to understand how common forms of gender inequalities and discrimination can negatively affect the health workforce; assess whether health workers may be experiencing one or more forms of discrimination; and successfully advocate and take action through policy-making and improved management to reduce gender discrimination and build a more motivated and effective workforce to serve the population’s family planning, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and other primary health care needs.