Identifying research priorities for health professions education research in sub-Saharan Africa using a modified Delphi method
Date
2020-11-18
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: Recent increases in health professions education (HPE) research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), though
substantial, have predominantly originated from single institutions and remained uncoordinated. A shared research
agenda can guide the implementation of HPE practices to ultimately influence the recruitment and retention of the
health workforce. Thus, the authors aimed to generate and prioritise a list of research topics for HPE research (HPER)
in SSA.
Methods: A modified Delphi process was designed to prioritise a shared agenda. Members of the African Forum
for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth) technical working group (TWG) were asked to first list potential
research topics. Then, members of the same TWG and attendees at the annual AFREhealth academic symposium
held in Lagos, Nigeria in August 2019 rated the importance of including each topic on a 3-point Likert scale,
through two rounds of consensus seeking. Consensus for inclusion was predefined as ≥70% of respondents rating
the topic as “must be included.”
Results: Health professions educators representing a variety of professions and 13 countries responded to the
survey rounds. Twenty-three TWG members suggested 26 initial HPER topics; subsequently 90 respondents
completed round one, and 51 completed round 2 of the modified Delphi. The final list of 12 research topics which
met predetermined consensus criteria were grouped into three categories: (1) creating an enabling environment
with sufficient resources and relevant training; (2) enhancing student learning; and (3) identifying and evaluating
strategies to improve pedagogical practice.
Conclusions: Establishing research priorities for HPE is important to ensure efficient and appropriate allocation of
resources. This study serves as a reminder of how the prevailing context within which HPE, and by implication
research in the field, is undertaken will inevitably influence choices about research foci. It further points to a
potential advocacy role for research that generates regionally relevant evidence.
Description
CITATION: Van Schalkwyk, S. C., et al. 2020. Identifying research priorities for health professions education research in sub-Saharan Africa using a modified Delphi method. BMC Medical Education, 20:443, doi:10.1186/s12909-020-02367-z.
The original publication is available at https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Health professions education
Citation
Van Schalkwyk, S. C., et al. 2020. Identifying research priorities for health professions education research in sub-Saharan Africa using a modified Delphi method. BMC Medical Education, 20:443, doi:10.1186/s12909-020-02367-z