Training Effectiveness

The mandatory interprofessional education program - a process by which students and practitioners from various health professions learn together with the goals of interaction and collaboration in providing health promotion, disease prevention, curative services, rehabilitation and palliation - was initiated in 1999 at Gunma University. This paper is a statistical evaluation of the programme from 1999 to 2007. [adapted from abstract]

The shortages of teaching faculty and insufficient learning resources have hampered the traditionally intensive surgical training apprenticeships. To address this, Muhimbili University attempted to enhance technical skills in general surgery and emergency procedures for senior medical students by implementing a surgical skills practicum using locally developed simulation models. This article evaluates the effectiveness of the program. [adpated from abstract]

This report evaluates the educational effects of a clinically integrated e-learning course for teaching basic evidence-based medicine among postgraduates compared to a traditional lecture-based course of equivalent content. [adapted from abstract]

This study involves the development and evaluation of training materials for provider-initiated HIV counseling and testing, HIV prevention and integrated primary HIV care and support for use by health care workers involved in the care of patients with TB at the primary health care clinic level in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [adapted from abstract]

The Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran has undertaken a reform of its health system, in which-lower level managers are given new roles and responsibilities in a decentralized system. To support these efforts, a series of courses for health managers and trainers was developed. A total of seven short training courses were implemented, and a detailed evaluation of the courses was undertaken to guide future development of the training programs. [adapted from abstract]

This study evaluates the effectiveness and sustainability of a voluntary counseling and testing training program based on a training-of-trainers model. [adapted from abstract]

This paper describes the results of safer circumcision training designed to improve circumcision knowledge, attitude and practice which was successfully delivered to traditional surgeons and nurses in South Africa. [adapted from abstract]

Increased interest in parasite-based malaria diagnosis has led to increased use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), particularly in rural settings. The scarcity of health facilities and trained personnel in many sub-Saharan African countries means that limiting RDT use to such facilities would exclude a significant proportion of febrile cases. Use of RDTs by volunteer community health workers (CHWs) is one alternative, but most sub-Saharan African countries prohibit CHWs from handling blood, and little is known about CHW ability to use RDTs safely and effectively. [adapted from introduction]

Scaling up the implementation of new health care interventions can be challenging and demand intensive training or retraining of health workers. This paper reports on the results of testing the effectiveness of two different kinds of face-to-face facilitation used in conjunction with a well-designed educational package in the scaling up of kangaroo mother care. [from abstract]

The Knowledge Improvement Tool (KIT) was created to allow family planning supervisors to quickly identify gaps in knowledge of Standard Days Method (SDM) providers, allowing them to provide targeted, effective support during routine supervisory visits. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness and the cost benefit of KIT to other methods of reinforcing SDM provider knowledge. [adapted from author]

Infectious diseases kill more than 10 million people worldwide every year. It is therefore vital that doctors receive a good education in this field. Online learning is one way in which doctors can learn new knowledge and skills. We conducted this study to determine whether the infectious diseases interactive online learning packages enabled primary care professionals to increase their knowledge and skills in the area of infectious diseases. [from abstract]

This presentation describes the benefits and challenges of structured on-the-job training with evidence from a case study of Nepal.

Within the Southern African prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programmes, counsellors talk with pregnant mothers about a number of interrelated decisions and behaviour changes. Current counselling has been characterised as ineffective in eliciting behaviour change and as adopting a predominantly informational and directive approach. Motivational interviewing (MI) was chosen as a more appropriate approach to guide mothers in these difficult decisions, as it is designed for conversations about behaviour change. MI has not previously been attempted in this context. This paper reflects on how MI can be incorporated successfully into PMTCT counselling and what lessons can be learnt regarding how to conduct training with counsellors.

Clinical skills and the ability to perform procedures is a vital part of general medicine. Teaching these skills to aspiring doctors is a complex task and it starts with a good theoretical preparation and some practical experience at university. On graduating from university, each doctor is faced with the task of transforming theoretical knowledge into the practical, procedural skills of a competent professional. This study aims to assess the perceptions of intern doctors working in regional hospitals in the Western Cape of their skills training both at undergraduate level and during the intern year.

Following health sector reform, Ethiopia started training new categories of health workers. This study addresses students’ perspectives regarding their training and career plans. This study suggests that the current training programs have serious inadequacies that need to be addressed. [from abstract]

This document asks how leadership contributes to measurable changes in organizational performance and how to evaluate the outcomes of leadership development programs in developing countries.

The study was carried out to evaluate short term effects of one to one educational intervention approach, conducted with 40 drug sellers in order to improve the private sector’s practices, compliance and performance in using the national treatment guidelines for malaria and other common childhood (diarrhoea, acute respiratory tract infection-ARI) illnesses in Kibaha district-Tanzania. [from abstract]

This retrospective study assessed the effects of pre- and post-training programme for healthcare professionals about breastfeeding. [from abstract]

A substantial number of patients with psychiatric disorders consult primary care physicians for comprehensive health care; however, the diagnosis and effective treatment of psychiatric disorders are deficient in primary health care. The aim of this intervention study is to assess the pre- and post-psychiatric training knowledge of primary care physicians. [from abstract]

The MCH clinic workers in Somalia receive formal and in-service training to perform their professional duties. Their competence in the field was never examined. This study assessed their competencies in detecting malnourished children 5 years and below in Beledweyne. [from abstract]

The objective of this study was to assess whether adding a training intervention for clinic staff to the usual DOTS strategy (the internationally recommended control strategy for tuberculosis (TB)) would affect the outcomes of TB treatement in primary care clinics with treatemet success rates below 70%. [from abstract]

Typically, provider–client interactions are brief, and providers often behave condescendingly toward clients. As a result, clients are unable to express their concerns or describe the limitations they face in trying to implement the providers’ suggested course of action. A training intervention was developed for providers that focused on addressing the problems inherent in this dynamic. This research was undertaken to assess whether providers in the experimental area delivered services in a different manner than they had prior to the training intervention. [adapted from author]

This Praxis Note provides an overview of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Malawi health care system and on the organisational capacity of Mulanje Mission Hospital. It describes the experiences and lessons learnt from a capacity building program designed to address capacity deficits and erosion caused by HIV/AIDS attrition. Less emphasis was placed on external training courses and increasing attention given to short-course inputs and distance learning. [from introduction]

Human resources for health are non-existent in many parts of the world and the outer islands of Marshall Islands in Micronesia are prime examples. While the more populated islands with hospital facilities are often successful in recruiting qualified health professionals from overseas, the outer islands generally have very limited health resources, and are thus less successful. In an attempt to provide reasonable health services to these islands, indigenous people were trained as Health Assistants (HA) to service their local communities.

The objective of this study was to examine associations between management training of physician executives and their leadership styles, as well as effectiveness in achieving disease management goals. [author’s description]

This cost analysis is based on QAP research on the effectiveness of two interventions (self-assessment and peer review) in sustaining or increasing the effectiveness of interpersonal communications training that midwives had taken. The research had measured the effectiveness of the interventions in terms of the number of utterances midwives made during family planning consultations, and this case study followed on, measuring the cost of each intervention in terms of the number of utterances generated.

The main objective of this study was to determine the perceptions of Iranian nurse educators and students regarding the evaluation of teaching effectiveness in university-based programs. [from abstract]

This study tested two low-cost alternatives to supervision-self-assessment and peer review-that may reinforce providers’ skills after training, in this case training in interpersonal communication and counseling (IPC/C). There were three study groups: the control group received no reinforcement after training, a “self-assessment” (SA) group performed SA exercises for 16 weeks after training, and a SA and peer review group also performed SA exercises for 16 weeks and met in small groups to peer review and guide each other in their efforts to improve their IPC/C skills.

The Quality Assurance Project (QAP) has developed and twice tested a computer-based version of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) training course. Earlier testing had shown that the computer-based training (CBT), which takes six days, was as effective as the 11-day training traditionally used to teach healthcare providers to use IMCI. This report describes more recent testing of the CBT, which is available on CD-ROM.

Facilitator-led training of 20 healthcare providers in IMCI requires 11 days of lectures/practice and 6 facilitators, while the QA Project’s computer-based training requires 9 days and 4 facilitators. This study compared the cost-effectiveness of the two methods and found that both courses had equal effects on participants’ knowledge and skills, and retention after three to four months. The computer course was about 25 percent less expensive, excluding the cost of developing the software and for the computers used in the training. [publisher’s description]