First steps towards interprofessional health practice in Tanzania: An educational experiment in rural Bagamoyo district

Health workers in Tanzania struggle to provide adequate health care for populations with high maternal, neonatal, and child mortality and high prevalence of communicable and non-communicable diseases. There are longstanding shortages of staff and resources. Universities are training more health professionals and revising curricula to be sure that staff have the specific skills needed to work in rural districts. This includes training people from different disciplines to work more effectively together. While teamwork is important in all settings, it is particularly critical in rural areas where there are few trained professionals. The health professional schools at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) developed curricula that share common competencies to promote interprofessional cooperation. In this article, we describe a pilot program developed by MUHAS to train its professional students ( dentists, doctors, environmental health officers, nurses, and pharmacists) to work collaboratively with each other and with other health staff at the district level. We describe the reactions of participants, and identify some considerations for taking such an exercise to scale for education. Journal of Public Health Policy (2012) 33, S138-S149. doi:10.1057/jphp.2012.49