Abstract
Introduction: Medical education is essential to produce physicians who can address their communities’ health needs. Since the 1970s, improving the quality of medical education has been a priority of international agencies. However, there have been few studies examining the long-term trends of education reform in sub-Saharan African medical schools.
Methods: We examined reports from the World Health Organization Regional Office of Africa to determine medical education priorities since 1951. Additionally, a literature review was conducted to investigate how African medical schools have taken the initiative to lead education reforms.
Results: In 1974, the Health Charter of the African Region recommended that health training should fit within each country’s sociocultural context rather than become standardized. The 1995 The Regional Conference on Medical Education determined that there should still be a set of attitudes, knowledge, and skills required for a doctor working in Africa. Throughout the 2000s, sub-Saharan African medical schools, rather than national governments, would lead transformative learning approaches by collaborating through consortia. Community-based education, competency-based medical education, and distanced-learning are a few of the many approaches implemented. The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) has also helped finance schools to improve medical education within their respective countries.
Conclusion: While many medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa remain resource-limited, they collaborate to lead education standardization and reform. International partners should equitably support this effort to ensure that a next generation of doctors can expertly serve the region’s healthcare needs.
