The focus

The focus of IMCI pre-service training in the Region is currently on outpatient care. It is based on the availability of standard and practical guidelines widely tested and formally adopted in the public health system.

This focus is also justified by the notion that most child care is provided at primary health care level: improving the quality of care at that level, while enhancing child survival and development, should also reduce the need for hospital care and overall child care costs.

The objective of IMCI pre-service training is achieved by providing students with knowledge and developing skills and attitudes which respond to the priority public health needs of their own country.

The guidelines to be promoted in teaching are based on basic clinical aids and essential medicines which are—or should be—available at primary health care level. This is to enable the future health graduates to perform efficiently also in settings where very limited diagnostic tools and therapeutic options are available, once they start their practice whether in the public or private domains.

This approach requires not only the incorporation of theoretical concepts (e.g. guidelines) in teaching programmes, but also the adoption of more active teaching methods and supervised practice of clinical and communication skills for students to master them, as pursued in IMCI in-service training courses.

This spin-off effect is like a little revolution in the way teaching is often practised and can benefit other areas of pre-service education in schools which have successfully adopted the new teaching methods.