Tamas Fülöp Award - The network - Towards Unity For Health

FOREWORD
Networking
and Linking
paign (see page 27), together with other
tional organisation of the curriculum based on
important organisations: the world
disciplines - with basic sciences at the beginning,
organisation of Family Doctors (Wonca),
emphasis on teaching rather than learning, and
Global Health through Education
in individual performance over team learning -
Training and Service (GHETS), and the
were clearly insufficient, faced with the challeng-
European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC).
es that primary care poses. Thus innovation in
In developing this action, the co-opera-
health professions education became a key con-
tion with GHETS has been utmost impor-
cept of our institution. Many are the products of
tant. GHETS provided a lot of support in
our efforts, from problem-based learning to the
the press-communication strategy.
relevance of linking with all those concerned with
the health of individuals and communities, and
Reference
to the ethical principle of social accountability, to
Dr. Jan de Maeseneer
GOODWIN, N., PERRI, G., PEIK, E. et al.
mention just a few. But we have to recognise that
(2004). Managing Across Diverse
this process is so complex that no matter what
According to Goodwin (2004) a network
is “any moderately stable pattern of ties
or links between organisations or
between organisations and individuals,
where those ties represent some form of
recognisable accountability (however
weak and often overridden), whether
formal or informal in character, whether
weak or strong, loose or tight, bounded
or unbounded”.
The Network: TUFH exists already
decades and is connecting similar-minded
people globally to share ideas, form
links and work together. In order to
strengthen these links, yearly conferences
are organised, this Newsletter and
Education for Health are written and we
have the taskforces, which are interacting
more and more through listservs. The
most recent initiative in this field has
been a listserv in relation to Social
Accountability and Accreditation. It
would be interesting to exchange our
Networks of Care: Lessons from Other
Sectors Report to the National
Coordinating Centre for NHS Service
Delivery and Organisation. NHS.
www.sdo.lshtm.ac.uk/files/adhoc/
39-policy-report.pdf
Jan de Maeseneer | Secretary General
Email: jan.demaeseneer@ugent.be
Dr. Fernando Mora
we do, or how successful we have been, there is
always more to do. I would like to point to two
areas of interest. Experiences in primary care and
linking with service providers and communities
have been interesting and relevant in many of
the less developed nations, like India, Brazil or
Uganda. There should be a more concerted effort
to enhance linking of people working in
these areas that go beyond our annual conference.
This is one of the central purposes of
GHETS. It would also be interesting to analyse
how much community work and educational innovation
have impacted on health professions
education world-wide. I think that conceptually
there is a large impact, but this has to be reflected
on the educational practices. Perhaps we have
been limited in our outward reach, in our educational
mission, and this is reflected on how
some large organisations and groups
(like the Global Health Workforce Alliance:
www.who.int/workforcealliance/en/) are now
where we were many years ago: recounting educational
experiences in communities. This calls
J U L Y 2 0 0 8 N E W S L E T T E R N U M B E R 0 1 | V O L U M E 2 7
views - for example at the coming
The 15by2015 initiative also gives a di-
for increasing and strengthening of our links with
Conference in September 2008 - on how
rection to our organisation: linking with
our educational counterparts.
weak or strong, loose or tight, bounded
other organisations and networks - as
or unbounded our links are.. Though,
pointed out by De Maeseneer - but also
At this moment, when the spirit of Alma-Ata is
apart from conferences and taskforces,
to focus on primary care as the most dis-
riding again in the world, we have a golden op-
more is needed: not only networking
tinctive of our educational origins char-
portunity to regain relevance.
within the organisation but also links
acteristic in 1978. The reorganisation of
with other organisations/networks are
the educational process was recognised
Fernando Mora | Global Health through
important. For example, The Network:
then as a necessity if we were to focus on
Education Training and Service (GHETS)
TUFH is engaged in the 15by2015 cam-
community-oriented primary care. Tradi-
Email: fmora5@yahoo.com
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