A global perspective on the education and training of primary care and public health professionals.

Background There is a critical shortage of health workers globally, which is not just a problem for low- and middle-income countries, but needs to be tackled through shared action. At the same time, public policy around the world is responding to changing health needs, social trends and technological possibilities by placing ever greater emphasis on primary care and public health, the interconnections between them and their relationships with other disciplines. All these themes mean that a new approach to the education and training of health workers is required. Setting Global, but with relevance to the UK. Question The education and training of professionals in public health and primary care need to adapt to the changing epidemiological, social, technological and policy environment, as well as to health worker shortages and resource constraints. Methods This article brings together the results of reviews undertaken by the Global Health Workforce Alliance taskforce on scaling up the education and training of the health workforce and the Lancet Commission 'Health professionals for a new century - transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world' (of both of which the author was a member) with the author's own experiences working in Africa, Asia and North America as well as in the UK. Results There are obvious differences in the needs and capabilities of health systems in different countries, but whatever the context - and whether they are high-, low- or middle-income countries - there are many similarities in the approach that is needed to educate and train professional and non-professional health workers, and a great deal that all countries can learn from each other. Conclusion/discussion As the NHS enters a new phase in the continuing development of general practitioners as commissioners and providers there is a need to look for insights from around the world and to develop a new approach to educating and training primary care and public health professionals which takes account of this global perspective and global learning.