Ndlovu Nqobile, Erasmus Rajiv T, Zemlin Annalise E
Division of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Afr J Lab Med. 2025 May 16;14(1):2602. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v14i1.2602. eCollection 2025.
Continuous professional development (CPD) represents a cornerstone in the advancement of professional skills and knowledge across various sectors. It is globally recognised as a transformative process that unlocks potential, increases capacity, and fosters personal growth. This narrative review article aimed to understand how the CPD training programmes for laboratory professionals are implemented and sustained in Africa. A narrative review was conducted where a comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, and web searches for white and/or grey literature, facilitated by a custom Python script. A combination of keywords, truncations, and subject headings targeted four key themes: Continuing professional development (and related terms), laboratory professionals, African countries, and aspects of implementation and scoring. The search was restricted to articles in English published from 2009 to 2024. While the actual training needs and gaps for CPD programmes are widely known, the actual implementation of CPD has remained a challenge. In the past, CPD training programmes have been implemented to address the lack of skills and the insufficient and skewed distribution of these health workers. This approach is not sustainable and has led to some challenges with coordination, quality assurance, and regulation. Each country has its unique context and training needs; therefore, CPD needs to be more coordinated and tailored so that professionals are given the right training for their needs.
Addressing training gaps for laboratory professionals in Africa will require a well-structured, coordinated and tailored approach that will deliver a continent-wide CPD programme.
持续专业发展（CPD）是各个领域提升专业技能和知识的基石。它在全球被公认为是一个释放潜力、增强能力并促进个人成长的变革性过程。这篇叙述性综述文章旨在了解非洲针对实验室专业人员的CPD培训项目是如何实施和维持的。进行了一项叙述性综述，借助自定义Python脚本在PubMed、Embase以及网络上全面搜索白色和/或灰色文献。通过关键词、截断词和主题词的组合针对四个关键主题：持续专业发展（及相关术语）、实验室专业人员、非洲国家以及实施和评分方面。搜索仅限于2009年至2024年发表的英文文章。虽然CPD项目的实际培训需求和差距广为人知，但CPD的实际实施仍然是一项挑战。过去，实施CPD培训项目是为了解决技能短缺以及这些卫生工作者分布不足和不均衡的问题。这种方法不可持续，并导致了一些协调、质量保证和监管方面的挑战。每个国家都有其独特的背景和培训需求；因此，CPD需要更协调且更具针对性，以便专业人员能获得符合其需求的正确培训。
解决非洲实验室专业人员的培训差距将需要一种结构良好、协调且有针对性的方法，以实施一项全非洲范围的CPD项目。
