Training for skills

The World Federation for Medical Education Summit in Edinburgh in 1993 called for bold, clear, attractive and feasible strategies to equip doctors with the skills for the future of health care. There was special emphasis on skills for problem-solving, ethical and evidence-based medicine, effective communication, health promotion and illness prevention, and to educate and be educated. There were also skills for the shaping of the future of health services to form partnerships with other professionals and communities, to promote primary health care and to respond to culture and context. Strategies for effective training for skills include linking them to knowledge and attitude, selection of students of aptitude and motivation, training through practice with feedback, training teachers and assessors, and the reinforcement of skills after graduation. This presentation describes practical examples of these strategies in action to address each of the identified skills, all of them based on experience in the real world in Australia and Nigeria.