Strengthening primary care: the role of e-learning.

Health systems strengthening has been defined as 'any array of initiatives and strategies that improves one or more of the functions of the health system and leads to better health through improvements in access, coverage, quality, or efficiency'. Health systems strengthening depends on human resources. These can only be developed through the provision of healthcare professional education at undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development levels. E-learning is being increasingly used in healthcare professional education. There is a growing evidence that e-learning produces broadly similar outcomes as face-to-face education. However, there is burgeoning interest in how healthcare professionals learn online and how they transfer their learning into clinical practice. This paper examines concepts that are important in the delivery of high-quality e-learning in the primary care environment. If we are to leverage e-learning to the maximum effect, it must enable transfer to clinical practice and be accessible and sustainable from a financial and environmental perspective. Ideally it should be adaptive and relevant to the core activities of primary care professionals.