The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa

Major global trends such as economic integration, urbanization, climate change, demographic shifts, digital and technological advances, and rising consumerism will all affect population health and shape the future of medical work. In South Africa, these trends can be harnessed as op...

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Main Authors:	Ivins, Courtney Price, Annie Liang, Serfontein, Nicole Danielle, Schneider, Pia Helene, Matsebula, Thulani Clement
Format:	Discussion Paper
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2022
Subjects:	COVID-19 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MEDICAL EDUCATION HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099326404252241193/IDU08bf11d3007b2204a8308bb200de3f540d134 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37435

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spelling	okr-10986-374352022-05-14T05:10:50Z The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa Ivins, Courtney Price Annie Liang Serfontein, Nicole Danielle Schneider, Pia Helene Matsebula, Thulani Clement COVID-19 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MEDICAL EDUCATION HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE Major global trends such as economic integration, urbanization, climate change, demographic shifts, digital and technological advances, and rising consumerism will all affect population health and shape the future of medical work. In South Africa, these trends can be harnessed as opportunities, but this will require the government to take a strategic approach and to give its immediate attention to six health workforce issues: (i) the mismatch between the number and the skills of health graduates produced by the health education system and the number and specialties needed for future medical work; (ii) the unsustainable financing system for expensive medical education; (iii) the large numbers of foreign-trained medical graduates whose degrees are not being fully recognized in South Africa; (iv) high vacancy rates in health facilities coinciding with high unemployment and inadequate human resource management; (v) insufficient data on the health workforce; and (vi) the public sector’s reluctance to collaborate with the private sector and international health labor. With more large-scale disasters looming, South Africa’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic will provide important lessons for the future of medical work. Based on the findings of this case study, we make recommendations on health education policy and human resource policy. These include (i) investing in high- quality education and aligning investments in health education and medical research with future needs; (ii) looking for innovative ways to finance medical education; (iii) investing in the health workforce on the basis of health workforce planning and future projections of need; (iv) modernizing the human resource management in health facilities and facilitating the use of modern technology; (v) making substantial investments in the collection and analysis of data on the health workforce and using results in workforce planning; and (vi) expanding public-private sector collaboration and developing policies to manage the mobility of the health workforce to and from the private sector and abroad. 2022-05-13T17:26:34Z 2022-05-13T17:26:34Z 2022-02-28 Discussion Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099326404252241193/IDU08bf11d3007b2204a8308bb200de3f540d134 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37435 English Health, Nutrition, and Population Discussion Paper; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Working Paper South Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	COVID-19 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MEDICAL EDUCATION HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE
spellingShingle	COVID-19 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MEDICAL EDUCATION HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE Ivins, Courtney Price Annie Liang Serfontein, Nicole Danielle Schneider, Pia Helene Matsebula, Thulani Clement The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
geographic_facet	South Africa
relation	Health, Nutrition, and Population Discussion Paper;
description	Major global trends such as economic integration, urbanization, climate change, demographic shifts, digital and technological advances, and rising consumerism will all affect population health and shape the future of medical work. In South Africa, these trends can be harnessed as opportunities, but this will require the government to take a strategic approach and to give its immediate attention to six health workforce issues: (i) the mismatch between the number and the skills of health graduates produced by the health education system and the number and specialties needed for future medical work; (ii) the unsustainable financing system for expensive medical education; (iii) the large numbers of foreign-trained medical graduates whose degrees are not being fully recognized in South Africa; (iv) high vacancy rates in health facilities coinciding with high unemployment and inadequate human resource management; (v) insufficient data on the health workforce; and (vi) the public sector’s reluctance to collaborate with the private sector and international health labor. With more large-scale disasters looming, South Africa’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic will provide important lessons for the future of medical work. Based on the findings of this case study, we make recommendations on health education policy and human resource policy. These include (i) investing in high- quality education and aligning investments in health education and medical research with future needs; (ii) looking for innovative ways to finance medical education; (iii) investing in the health workforce on the basis of health workforce planning and future projections of need; (iv) modernizing the human resource management in health facilities and facilitating the use of modern technology; (v) making substantial investments in the collection and analysis of data on the health workforce and using results in workforce planning; and (vi) expanding public-private sector collaboration and developing policies to manage the mobility of the health workforce to and from the private sector and abroad.
format	Discussion Paper
author	Ivins, Courtney Price Annie Liang Serfontein, Nicole Danielle Schneider, Pia Helene Matsebula, Thulani Clement
author_facet	Ivins, Courtney Price Annie Liang Serfontein, Nicole Danielle Schneider, Pia Helene Matsebula, Thulani Clement
author_sort	Ivins, Courtney Price
title	The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
title_short	The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
title_full	The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
title_fullStr	The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa
title_sort	future of medical work in southern africa : case study of the future of medical work and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on medical work in south africa
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2022
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099326404252241193/IDU08bf11d3007b2204a8308bb200de3f540d134 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37435
_version_	1764487038686461952

The Future Of Medical Work in Southern Africa : Case Study of the Future of Medical Work and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Work in South Africa

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