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The World Health Organization's Department of Health Workforce in collaboration with the Department of Knowledge, Ethics and Research commissioned this report to provide countries with evidence to inform and guide the adoption of innovative, technology-enabled models into health professional education, so as to augment capacities to scale up production, enhance quality and relevance of training, and adopt equity-focused policies.
The analysis identifies the different forms of ICT that are used to deliver undergraduate health professional education and evaluates the effects of both networked and non-networked computer-based eLearning on students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and satisfaction. It provides insight into advantages and disadvantages of eLearning and an overview of how the quality of eLearning can be measured. Importantly, it identifies and discusses the critical success factors for the implementation and adaptation of eLearning interventions, as well as strategies to equitably and effectively introduce, institutionalize and sustain eLearning.
Furthermore, the report demonstrates the need to strengthen mechanisms at the country level between health workforce institutions of higher learning and ministries of health and education, in order to support quality education across an increasing number of health professionals.
eLearning has an under-exploited potential to support health workforce capacity building in different contexts, and can empower health workers to take charge directly of their own competency development, to enable them to play a full role as change agents in addressing the challenges we will face in the 21st century.