The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) will support medical education and research in Sub-Saharan African institutions. The purpose of this support is to increase the quantity, quality and retention of graduates with specific skills addressing the health needs of their national populations.
MEPI is based on the idea of Transformative Medical Education. Transformative Medical Education is premised on the understanding that a nation’s health care workers (HCWs), their education, the health system, and the health of the population are interrelated. MEPI sponsored investments in education will emphasize three themes:
- Increasing the numbers of HCWs trained;
- Retaining HCWs over time and in areas where they are most needed; and
- Supporting regionally relevant research.
Transformative Education means making education and training relevant to the needs of the population, strengthening educational infrastructure, training and retaining faculty, investing in innovative educational strategies and technologies, and improving quality assurance mechanisms.
MEPI envisions strong links among MEPI institutions and between the institutions and their respective ministries of health and education. These linkages are essential to promote collaborative planning, the retention of graduates, and the sustainability of innovations in education and research. MEPI will require clear, measurable outcomes for all interventions. The success of MEPI programs will be judged on outcomes achieved with an emphasis on their impact on population health.
