Dear Colleague,

 

Dissemination of the Commission Report-"Health professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world"-continues to incite enlightening discussions and national and regional reform efforts.  This has certainly been enhanced by the academic stature of The Lancet, as well as the report's translations in numerous languages (see story below).

 

The report has been uniformly well received, generating many invitations for speeches or presentations for us as well as many follow-up opportunities, particularly in China and Asia. We've heard applause for the report's global, multi-professional perspective, its evidence-based and conceptual framework, and its recommendation for a third generation of reforms.

 

A major gap that has been recognized is the need for a practical model for implementation, which Flexner had. This is complicated by the huge diversity of national contexts. These gaps are being directly addressed by Chinese and Asian follow-up initiatives (see news items below).

 

The report's findings have also been the subject of animated discussions at follow-up meetings in other regions. In Beirut, Lebanon on 20 May, for example, the report was unveiled at the American University of Beirut (see news item below). Upcoming events are planned in Peru and Brazil.

 

Activities taking shape in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America will be the focus of our June newsletter. At that time we'll also report on exciting activities to initiate educational reform at the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

We invite you to follow progress, which is updated weekly on our website at http://www.healthprofessionals21.org. Please forward this to others with interest in a global vision for comprehensive reform in the training of healthcare professionals. 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Julio Frenk, Dean, Harvard School of Public Health and Commission Co-chair 

 

Lincoln Chen, President, China Medical Board and Commission Co-chair