As Papua New Guinea (PNG) works towards achieving Universal Health Coverage, improving education for the PNG health workforce is a key component in enhancing workforce quality and improving national health outcomes. The Strengthening Health Workforce Education (SWHE) Program (Stage 1) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) ran from January 2021 to December 2024, with successful reviewing, revision, and updating of the Diploma of General Nursing (DGN), and Certificate IV for CHW. Implementation of revised curricula is ongoing, now in seven out of 15 schools of nursing, and 17 of 19 CHW institutes.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the program is implemented by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development at University of Technology Sydney (WHO CCNM UTS) in partnership with the National Department of Health (NDoH) in PNG, the World Health Organization: Papua New Guinea (WHO PNG), the PNG–Australia Transition to Health (PATH) program, and DFAT. 

During Stage 1, the Fast Track Program, aimed at assisting educators in implementing the revised curricula through continuous professional development (CPD), shed light on an urgent and critical need to continue capacity building activities for nursing and CHW educators for sustainable implementation and strengthening of the health workforce.

Stage 2

Stage 2 of the SWHE Program aims to strengthen teaching, learning and educational standards in the School of Nursing (SoN) and School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) at the University of PNG, through a Sister School partnership between SMHS at UPNG and the Faculty of Health at UTS (FoH). The specific aims are to:

  • develop partnership for a ‘Sister School’ model for capability strengthening between the SMHS and SoN, and FoH
  • work with UPNG educators to increase their skills and capacity to design, deliver and evaluate a proposed Bachelor/Graduate Diploma in Health Professional Education (BHPE/GradDipHPE) to improve the quality of health professional educators across PNG
  • work collaboratively to build relevant and high quality, flexible and work-based postgraduate programs that respond to identified health needs of the PNG population
  • ensure that gender equity and disability inclusion are mainstreamed into programs to enhance the capacity of health professional educators
  • effectively monitor, evaluate and make recommendations in relation to outcomes and learning based on the program’s monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) framework.

The Sister School partnership will provide a framework and model adaptable across other universities and schools nationally. It will also build sustainable capacity in SMHS academic staff to design, deliver and evaluate contemporary, flexible and work-based undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The project will additionally review current educational governance systems within the school and provide guidance where changes are needed.

Long-term, this builds a culture of mentorship in health education institutions and is a pathway to effective sustainable changes to health workforce education practices in PNG.

SHWE program briefs

2024

2025

2026