Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Education
Introduction
The delivery of healthcare services is influenced by many factors. These include effective training of health professionals and proper management of health services. In the health sector, there are many health policy decisions and reforms that are being undertaken by Governments, Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies in order to improve the provision of health services. These requirements have profound implications for planning, training and management of health professions. There is public and professional demand for more relevant, quality and effective educational programmes for healthcare professionals. There are also demands from funding agencies and governments for accountability and effectiveness in education including that of health professionals. These demands therefore require training of teachers in health professions to be trained in education at postgraduate level in order to develop their capabilities in planning, management, curriculum development, research and evaluation, assessment and teaching and learning in health professions.
Postgraduate training in Medical Education has been recognized and recommended for teachers in health professions in both developed and developing countries. Moi University recognized this need and took the challenge through the establishment of Department of Medical Education in the College of Health Sciences. The establishment of Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Education is therefore in line with the current trends of developing teachers in health professions who are capable of providing leadership and policy directions in the education and training of health professionals in institutions of higher learning.
