Toward an adolescent competent workforce

Abstract

Health services throughout the world have largely neglected adolescents who are typically viewed as healthy with little need for healthcare. At a population level, adolescents are receiving fresh attention with clearer understanding of the importance of adolescence as a foundation for future health. There are growing concerns that adolescents have failed to achieve the extent of health gains experienced by younger children. In response, global policy is now prioritizing adolescent health. There is growing recognition that health services are not well orientated to the needs of adolescents and their particular suite of health issues. New strategies and different investments are needed to train the future health workforce to ensure it is better equipped to respond to both conspicuous heath needs and emerging health needs in young people who are inexperienced users of health services. The complexity of healthcare needs in adolescents makes a compelling case for the vertical integration of training-from pre-service (e.g., undergraduate) through to in-service (e.g., postgraduate education and continuous medical education) that spans from primary care to specialist practice, and is inclusive of the major health disciplines (e.g., medicine, nursing, allied heath). Development of a critical mass of advanced practice skills helps support sustainable education initiatives and drives innovations in educational methods. A particular challenge is how to take training programs to scale while ensuring they remain locally relevant.