These guidelines call for new approaches in health professionals’ education. Approaches are needed that transform systems and encourage the move away from the traditional focus on tertiary care hospitals to initiatives that foster community engagement. The guidelines recommendations support and advocate for implementation considerations in efforts to involve communities and countries collectively for this transformational change in health professionals’ education. It is the intent of the Guidelines to encourage educational and training institutions to foster and enhance the relational activity and the interaction and planning between education, health and other sectors.

Contents

• Foreword
• Contributors and acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Executive Summary
• Recommendations at a glance
• 1. Introductory chapters
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 The domains for action: focus of the guidelines
  • 1.3 Scope of the Guidelines
  • 1.4 Methodology of Evidence-Informed Guidelines
  • 1.5 Expected beneficiaries and benefits
  • 1.6 Dissemination process
  • 1.7 Conflicts of interest
  • 1.8 Peer review process
  • 1.9 The Guideline Development Group
  • 1.10 Structure of the document
• 2. Transforming and scaling up health professionals' education and training: Why is it urgently needed?
• 3. Transforming and scaling up health professionals' education and training: What are the key policy issues and possible responses?
  • 3.1 Education and training institutions
  • 3.2 Accreditation and regulation
  • 3.3 Financing and sustainability
  • 3.4 Monitoring, implementation and evaluation
  • 3.5 Governance and planning
• 4. Recommendations to transform and scale up health professionals' education and training
  • 4.1 Education and training institutions
  • 4.2 Accreditation
  • 4.3 Continuous professional development (CPD) for health professionals
  • 4.5 Monitoring, implementation and evaluation
  • 4.5 Good practice recommendations: Governance and planning
  • 4.6 Civil society suggestions
• 5. Knowledge gaps and research agenda
  • 5.1 Education and training institutions
  • 5.2 Accreditation and regulation
  • 5.3 Financing and sustainability
  • 5.4 Monitoring, implementation and evaluation
  • 5.5 Governance and planning
• References
• Annex 1 Definition and list of health professionals
• Annex 2 List of terms used for graduate entry programmes
• Annex 3 Final list of PICO questions
• Annex 4 Glossary of intervention terms
• Annex 5 The WHO guideline development process
• Annex 6 Grade profiles
• Annex7 Decision tables
• Annex 8 Example of Systematic Review
• Annex 9 Core Guidelines Development Group members
• Annex 10 List of External Peer Reviewers
• Annex 11 Working groups at the Guidelines Development Group meeting, Washington, USA, March 2012
• Annex 12 Systematic Reviews Team Leaders
• Annex 13 Working group members at first CGDG meeting, Divonne-les-Bains, France, May 2011
• Annex 14 Outcomes framework

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