Health workers are among the most valuable resources of any health care system. Developing a strong workforce requires continuous profession development in order to maintain professional competence in an environment of numerous challenges, rapid organizational changes, information technology, increasing public expectations and demands for quality and greater accountability.

In order for health workers to provide quality care and meet their communities’  changing health care needs, they must become lifelong learners dedicated to updating their professional knowledge, skills, values, and practice. Continuing   professional development (CPD) encompasses all of the activities that health workers undertake to maintain, update, develop, and enhance their professional skills, knowledge, and attitudes.

CPD is a systematic and ongoing process of education, in-service training, learning, and support activities that build on initial education and training to ensure continuing competence, extend knowledge and skills to new responsibilities or changing roles, and increase personal and professional effectiveness.

There have been gaps with the design, delivery and evaluation of the previous in-service trainings (ISTs) in Ethiopia. The majority of the trainings were primarily planned and implemented by development partners. This does not help the ownership and sustainability of IST programs in the country.  There has been little progress with regard to capacity building of local training institutes. Furthermore, the cost of IST has been very expensive. Cognizant of the existing gaps and challenges, federal ministry of health (FMOH) calls for standardization and institutionalization of IST programs including linking IST with career development and re-licensing and initiated the continuous professional development (CPD) program as a national strategy. This requires housing IST in local institutions that will be accredited to provide CPD trainings.

Institutionalization and standardization of in-service trainings have various benefits. Institutionalization is a very essential tool for sustainability of need based training programs in the country. When local training institutions deliver trainings, training programs will be more sustainable. Institutionalized trainings are less expensive as the trainings will be held in the facilities of local training institutions rather than in hotels. Institutionalization can also build the financial and technical capacity of local institutions.

Standardizing in-service trainings ensures trainings are need based and have right approaches in the delivery. It ensures timely planning and effective coordination and implementation and creates proper training monitoring and evaluation system. Standardization of in-service training help create a system where by trainings are linked to performance or trainings are translated into service. Standardized training materials maintain the uniformity of the competency outcomes and quality of the trainings. Generally, standardization of the in-service training activities assures the quality of trainings and in turn improves the quality of health services.

Accordingly, Wollo University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences CPD center is established to fulfill the aforementioned needs by providing training for the health professionals practicing in its catchment area as well as at the national level.

• Improves skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking and working
• Makes healthcare professionalsfeel valued, motivated and confident
• Makes healthcare professionalsfeel able to drive change and innovation
• Means healthcare professionalsremain fit to practise and meet regulatory body standards
• Keeps healthcare professionalsup to date with changing technology and service demands
• Makes healthcare professionals feel safe and confident in the services provided
• Increases satisfaction with services
• Contributes to up-to-date and evidence-based services
• Improves the quality of service delivery
• Improves performance

• There is a clear need or reason for theparticular CPD activity to be undertaken
• Learning is based on such an identified needor reason
• Follow-up provision is made for reinforcingthe learning accomplished
• In-service training is linked to preservicefaculties as far as possible to create a seamlessCPD system

• Health workers are spending time awayfrom their practice participating in classesor workshops that are irrelevant to theirpractice setting
• Attended only because participants receiveper diem
• Geared toward improving a skill for whichthere is no demonstrated need
• Taken only to meet regulatory requirementsrather than to close a competency gap
• Simply unsuccessful in developing skills andcompetencies

General Objective

To improve the skill, knowledge and attitude of health care providers in all health institution of the region and the country through provision of updated, standardized and institutionalized CPD trainings to enable them provide quality health services for their clients.

Specific Objectives:

• To implement CPD activities in a standardized and institutionalized manner

• To develop need based CPD trainings for health care providers
• To deliver need based CPD trainings for health care providers
• To create platform of sharing experience with other training centers for service advancement, sustainability and knowledge/skill transfer

“To design, develop and deliver standardized continuous professional development courses that fills gaps in knowledge, skills and attitude of healthcare providers that are progressive and demand driven at regional and national level in a sustainable manner for provision of quality healthcare service”

“To be one of the leading and preferred CPD center that attains the highest possible standards in Amhara region and Ethiopia by 2032”.

The CPD center shall be driven by the following core values

• Customer focused
• Quality service delivery
• Teamwork
• Collaboration and Partnership
• Good governance and Leadership
• Creativity and Innovation
• Integrity