By Benjamin Akoto, GNA
Abesim, (Bono), Oct. 29, GNA – Professor Florence Naab, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana says the nation’s health training institutions require transformation.
That she said would build a resilient labour force to meet emerging health needs of the people.
She said with novel emerging diseases, technology advancement and evolving patients’ expectations, there was the need for the country to also improve the quality of its health personnel too.
Prof Naab said this when addressing the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI), underway at Abesim, near Sunyani, saying “the transformation must begin not in hospitals or policies, but in classrooms”.
The one-week AGM is on the theme “Transforming health training for a resilient workforce: specialization, innovation and quality assurance”.
Prof Naab urged health training institutions to rethink and transform their teaching approaches by building curricula that were competency-based, technology-driven, and aligned with the demands of contemporary practice.
She said: “The digital revolution is not approaching, but already here, and health training must reflect the shift”, adding that “technology is redefining how practitioners are trained for modern healthcare delivery”.
Prof Naab noted that successful transformation of the health sector largely depended on strong faculty development, saying that the strength of any health training institution “lies in the competence, creativity and dedication of its educators”.
She said health training institutions also ought to focus on research and innovation stressing that knowledge alone remained insufficient in today’s fast-evolving healthcare environment, urging health training institutions to do more and churn out practitioners with critical thinking, problem-solving and innovations.
Prof Naab said: “No transformation is complete without robust quality assurance systems that builds public trust in institutions, educators, and healthcare professionals alike” and emphasised the importance of specialization in healthcare provision.
She said: “As diseases become more complex and technologies advance, practitioners must go beyond general practice to acquire deeper expertise and provide leadership in their fields”.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/George-Ramsey Benamba