The Pan American Health Organization's Virtual Campus for Public Health as a technical cooperation strategy

Abstract

The Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) is the educational platform of the Pan American Health Organization, conceived as a tool for technical cooperation. The objectives of this article are to: characterize the training offered at the VCPH, identifying its virtual courses; characterize course participants; describe technological updating processes and the advances made in terms of accessibility; and identify the VCPH's relationship with the main lines of cooperation of the Pan American Health Organization. The VCPH has developed 210 tutored courses and 226 self-learning courses since 2007, related to the Organization’s policies. Heterogeneous use of the campus was observed in the different areas of cooperation. The number of self-learning courses conducted during the pandemic surpassed the total figure accumulated in previous years. Participants are mainly from Latin America; 67.5% are women between 26 and 45 years of age; 57.1% have a university education, mainly in nursing or medicine; half of them work in hospitals and 35.8% at the first level of care. More than 90% of the participants had a favorable opinion of the topics addressed, the learning resources offered, and the characteristics of the virtual classroom. Among difficulties, they indicated little available time and poor internet access; among advantages, they emphasized independent schedules and access to various sources of information. The available assessment tools are not sufficient to determine the impact of VCPH educational programs. The challenges are to deepen the accessibility and quality of education offered, strengthen links with areas of cooperation, and improve course evaluations and knowledge about VCPH users.