BHB supports the Directorate General of Medical Education to develop a competency-based training program the allied health workforce—paraclinical medical technologists, pharmacy technicians, radiotherapists, dental technologists, etc. BHB recruited the ARK Foundation to develop a situational analysis of the educational system that they presented on 9 August 2021 in a meeting chaired by Director General Professor AHM Enayet Hossain.
Key findings and recommendations include the following:
- The government should set up an institute of health technology (IHT) in each of 64 districts to complement its planned establishment of medical colleges.
- IHTs have inadequate numbers of teaching and support staff, and there is a lack of uniformity in staff between the IHTs. Organograms should be standardized to ensure the correct number and types of posts to create.
- Not every IHT has a web-based continuous professional development platform or other educational resources. Each should have an allied health workforce education unit, digital library, and eLearning system.
- Some basic courses are compulsory for all allied workforce students, which is unnecessary. Curricula across disciplines should be specific and rational.
- The Bangladesh Health Departmental Nonmedical Staff Recruitment Rules 2018 and Allied Health Professional Education Board Law 2019 should be amended and updated as soon as possible.
- IHT students must interact with many different authorities, such as the MOHFW’s Medical Education and Family Welfare Division, State Medical Faculty, Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh, etc. To minimize this hassle, they should have only one stop to access multiple services.
Workshop participants from the UK Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, MOHFW, Directorate General Medical Education hoped that implementing the recommendations will mark a breakthrough in the development of competency- based allied health workforce education.
