In the words of Nelson Mandela, “education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.”
Healthcare systems everywhere are being pressed to do more with less. More developed parts of the world are rising to the challenge by harnessing the power of big data, the Industrial Internet and new technology; other parts of the world barely have access to the basics.
A radical billion-dollar initiative is looking to bridge that gap. By the year 2020, GE Healthcare is planning to train over two million healthcare professionals around the world. Put another way, three times as many healthcare workers will be trained in the next five years than were trained in the last five.
Estimating that the average healthcare professional treats 30 patients per year (a number which can often be much higher), this program has the potential to impact more than 300 million patients by 2020.
Physicians, radiologists, technologists, midwives, biomedical engineers, nurses, and other healthcare professionals around the world will be equipped with the skills they need to improve the lives of everyone they treat.
“This is not a one-size fits all approach, far from it, ” said GE Healthcare President & CEO, John Flannery. “We will work with customers, governments and institutions, to develop new approaches for training and skills development on where it matters most.”
A big part of implementing such a wide-ranging programme comes from the ubiquity of virtual learning technology that simply wasn’t available even a few years ago. Using telepresence, mobile apps, and training videos to complement traditional teaching methods, more people can be reached than ever before.
Mario Lois, General Manager of Global Education Services at GE Healthcare, makes clear the reasons for the education drive. “Even if we develop best-in-class technologies, the users that operate those devices are at least as impactful, if not more, on the actual efficiency and patient outcomes as the product itself, ” he said.
“Technology is evolving at such a fast pace that HCPs need much more frequent training and education, so they can truly remain optimally skilled and capable with the many devices that they need to use.”
The project has truly global scope, with many initiatives already underway in many different parts of the world including India, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, China, East Africa, USA, UK, Spain, and France so far.
Addressing a Need
The education initiative is addressing a key need: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a shortage of around 2.4 million healthcare professionals worldwide, whereas investment in their education represents only 1.8% of total global expenditure on health.1
