Meeting Somaliland's health needs through practice-oriented higher education - Prepared for Practice
Somaliland’s poor health indicators are in part driven by a shortage of well-trained health workers. This health workforce challenge is rooted in issues in the tertiary education sector: critical gaps in the curricula, insufficient expertise within universities to design and deliver relevant courses, limited formal pedagogical training amongst faculty and lack of opportunities for students to develop skills in clinical settings. As a result, graduates often lack the knowledge, skills, behaviours and practical experience to deliver safe and quality healthcare.
The Prepared for Practice (PfP) partnership addressed Somaliland’s health workforce challenge through an integrated approach to health education system reform with interventions at individual, institutional and national level.
The approach
Improving undergraduate teaching, examination and clinical supervision
- Online tutorials to medical, nursing and midwifery students provided by UK health experts
- Supervision of hospital ward rounds and field trips to health facilities
- Evidence-based examinations
Strengthening capacity of academic staff and teaching institutions
- Certificate, diploma and master’s level courses in health education
- Postgraduate certificate in administration
Supporting national policy and regulation
- National medical education policy
- Standardised national medical curriculum
Highlights
- 1,800medical, nursing and midwifery students reached, including 838 through PfP’s online learning platform
- 77% of medical and 93% of nursing and midwifery undergraduates surveyed feel prepared for practice
- 144 NHS volunteers delivered online undergraduate tutorials 16different departments at three universities positively impacted by the HPE
- 129 teachers and administrators benefitted from capacity development
- 24 clinical supervisors trained and supported
- 12 unique online courses collaboratively designed and delivered with partners
The partners
The PfP partnership was led by King’s Global Health Partnerships, an initiative of King's College London (UK), working with Amoud University (Somaliland), Edna Aden University and Teaching Hospital (Somaliland), University of Hargeisa (Somaliland), MedicineAfrica (UK), and the Tropical Health and Education Trust (UK).
Find out more
PfP summative evaluation: Read the executive summary of the report.