Empowering the Global Health Workforce Through Innovative Lifelong Learning Models

Lifelong learning is essential for sustaining a skilled, resilient, and adaptable health workforce amid rapid global transformations. Healthcare professionals—such as nurses, doctors, and midwives—have long pioneered Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in healthcare, setting standards and building a growing evidence base for best practices worldwide. Healthcare systems are evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven by digital transformation, task-shifting, and the rise of multidisciplinary care. As healthcare roles expand in complexity and scope, leadership competencies are becoming increasingly vital to ensure safety, quality, and resilience in care delivery. At the same time, stark global inequities in access to quality healthcare—and in opportunities for professional development—remain unacceptable.

This panel will explore how CPD can be reimagined to address these dual imperatives: supporting professional leadership and advancing global equity. It will highlight the role of academic institutions in shaping the future of CPD and discuss strategies to rapidly scale high-quality lifelong learning models across Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Drawing on insights from university hospital programs and the World Health Organization Academy, the panel will address two key questions:

1. How can leading academic institutions help shape the next generation of CPD for the health workforce?

2. What are the most effective pathways to scale quality CPD in LMICs?

By bridging innovation, leadership development, and equity, this discussion aims to catalyze a global movement to future-proof lifelong learning across the health workforce—ultimately supporting universal health coverage and improved health outcomes worldwide.