Developing an interprofessional transition course to improve team-based HIV care for sub-Saharan Africa

• Published in: BMC medical education 2020-12, Vol.20 (1), p.499-499, Article 499
• Main Authors: Kiguli-Malwadde, E, Budak, J Z, Chilemba, E, Semitala, F, Von Zinkernagel, D, Mosepele, M, Conradie, H, Khanyola, J, Haruruvizhe, C, Martin, S, Kazembe, A, De Villiers, M, Reid, M J A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Africa South of the Sahara; Allied Health Occupations Education; Annual reports; Collaboration; Cost Effectiveness; Curriculum; Curriculum development; Education; Educational Methods; Educational Strategies; Faculty; Graduation; Group Discussion; Health Education; Health Occupations; Health Personnel; Health Personnel - education; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Instructional design; Interprofessional; Interprofessional Relations; Labor Force; Learning Modules; Medical Education; Medical personnel; Needs Assessment; Networks; Nursing Education; Nursing schools; Online Surveys; Partnerships in Education; Professional practice; Professions; Quality control; Quality improvement; Sub Saharan Africa; Sustainability; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Trainees
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-020-02420-x

With funding from the United States Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA), a consortium of health professional training institutions from Africa developed HIV-specific, interprofessional, team-based educational resources to better support trainees during the transition period between pre-service training and professional practice. Ten faculty members representing nine medical and nursing schools in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) developed a training package of modules focused on core clinical, public health, interprofessional education (IPE), and quality improvement (QI) domains related to HIV service delivery. Curriculum development was informed by a rapid needs assessment of existing tools and future needs for HIV education across 27 SSA health professions training institutions. A total of 17 modules were developed, targeted at newly qualified health care professionals to be taught in a series of two-day workshops meant to complement existing institution specific HIV-curricula. Between April and July 2019, a comprehensive case-based HIV training package was developed to support trainees in transition from pre-service training to independent professional practice. Each module, addressing different elements of interprofessional practice, was intended to be delivered in an interprofessional format. Thus far, 70 health professions training institutions in 14 countries have implemented the program; 547 educators facilitated STRIPE workshops, with a total of 5027 learners trained between September 2019 and September 2020. To our knowledge this is the first IPE HIV-specific curriculum explicitly focused on enhancing the quality of training provided to graduating health care professionals working in SSA. The collaborative, cross-institutional, interprofessional approach to curriculum development provides a benchmark for how best-practice approaches to education can be disseminated in SSA.