Area Leader Education, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
BMC Med Educ. 2013 Feb 7;13:18. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-13-18.
The 'human resources for health' crisis has highlighted the need for more health (care) professionals and led to an increased interest in health professional education, including master's degree programmes. The number of these programmes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) is increasing, but questions have been raised regarding their relevance, outcome and impact. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the outcomes and impact of health-related master's degree programmes.
We searched the databases Scopus, Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Psychinfo and Cochrane (1999 - November 2011) and selected websites. All papers describing outcomes and impact of health-related Master programmes were included. Three reviewers, two for each article, extracted data independently. The articles were categorised by type of programme, country, defined outcomes and impact, study methods used and level of evidence, and classified according to outcomes: competencies used in practice, graduates' career progression and impact on graduates' workplaces and sector/society.
Of the 33 articles included in the review, most originated from the US and the UK, and only one from a low-income country. The programmes studied were in public health (8), nursing (8), physiotherapy (5), family practice (4) and other topics (8). Outcomes were defined in less than one third of the articles, and impact was not defined at all. Outcomes and impact were measured by self-reported alumni surveys and qualitative methods. Most articles reported that competencies learned during the programme were applied in the workplace and alumni reported career progression or specific job changes. Some articles reported difficulties in using newly gained competencies in the workplace. There was limited evidence of impact on the workplace. Only two articles reported impact on the sector. Most studies described learning approaches, but very few described a mechanism to ensure outcome and impact of the programme.
Evidence suggests that graduates apply newly learned competencies in the field and that they progress in their career. There is a paucity of well-designed studies assessing the outcomes and impact of health-related master's degree programmes in low- and middle-income countries. Studies of such programmes should consider the context and define outcomes and impact.
“卫生人力危机”凸显了对更多卫生（保健）专业人员的需求，并促使人们对卫生专业教育（包括硕士学位课程）产生了浓厚的兴趣。在中低收入国家（LMIC），这类课程的数量正在增加，但人们对其相关性、结果和影响提出了质疑。我们进行了一项系统评价，以评估与卫生相关的硕士学位课程的结果和影响。
我们检索了 Scopus、Pubmed、Embase、CINAHL、ERIC、Psychinfo 和 Cochrane（1999 年至 2011 年 11 月）数据库以及选定的网站。纳入描述与卫生相关的硕士课程结果和影响的所有论文。两位审稿人（每位审稿人两位）分别独立提取数据。根据课程类型、国家、定义的结果和影响、使用的研究方法和证据水平对文章进行分类，并根据结果进行分类：实践中使用的能力、毕业生的职业发展以及对毕业生工作场所和部门/社会的影响。
在纳入的 33 篇综述文章中，大多数来自美国和英国，只有一篇来自低收入国家。所研究的课程包括公共卫生（8）、护理（8）、物理治疗（5）、家庭医学（4）和其他主题（8）。不到三分之一的文章定义了结果，根本没有定义影响。结果和影响通过校友自我报告调查和定性方法进行衡量。大多数文章报告说，在工作场所中应用了在课程中学习到的能力，校友报告说职业发展或特定工作变动。一些文章报告说，在工作场所中应用新获得的能力存在困难。几乎没有证据表明对工作场所产生了影响。只有两篇文章报告了对部门的影响。大多数研究描述了学习方法，但很少有研究描述了确保课程结果和影响的机制。
有证据表明，毕业生在该领域应用新学到的能力，并且在职业生涯中取得进步。关于中低收入国家与卫生相关的硕士学位课程的结果和影响的精心设计的研究很少。对这些课程的研究应考虑到具体情况，并定义结果和影响。
