Innovation, HealthEd and Universal Health Coverage : Where next? Kunal D Patel

“Apart from Nigeria and South Africa, I don’t think there is any other country in Africa that has 100 doctors that have been trained at the postgraduate level in family medicine.” Dr. Matie Obazee, President, WONCA Africa

Recruit and retain through training Adoption of a collaborative interprofessional approach between health professionals, from training through to the workplace Provide education and training relevant to the context and to user needs Securing political and financial support to establish and maintain a strong PHC system Recruit and retain through training

Standardise and accredit health professional education Use technologies appropriately Develop ICT training for learners, educators and patients Recognise and consolidate the interdependence of all the health professionals in the PHC setting

Thanks! @kunalthedreamer

Interprofessional (IP) e-learning offers valuable educational experiences to primary care practitioners, supporting the development of interprofessional collaboration. IP e-learning can be an effective method of education for busy primary care practitioners as its accessibility helps overcome time pressures related to their clinical work. IP e-learning is useful where geographic limitations exist (e.g. for practitioners based in rural communities). The use of IP e-learning methods can elicit a variety of financial gains – reducing costs for physical learning spaces and travel expenses. However, the overall cost- effectiveness of IP e-learning is unclear

A key advantage to IP e-learning is its flexibility for engagement in a range of self- directed, facilitative, interactive, synchronous/asynchronous activities which can be organised to fit practitioners’ work schedules. The move from traditional classroom-based activities has resulted in some learners feeling isolated or reporting a lack of support from facilitators. However, the use of blended approaches can overcome these limitations. Technical difficulties (e.g. software failures and connectivity problems) can undermine the quality of learners’ IP e-learning experiences. Efforts are therefore needed to eliminate such problems. Future IP e-learning evaluations should focus on developing the robust evidence for its longer-term effects on behaviour, organisational practice, cost effectiveness and benefit for patients/clients.