the changing demands on the health sectors in low- and middle-income countries especially sub-saharan african countries continue to challenge efforts to address critical shortages of the health workforce. addressing these challenges have led to the evolution of “non-physician clinicians” (npcs), that assume some physician roles and thus mitigate the continuing shortage of doctors in these count...

health workforce shortages in sub-saharan africa are widely recognized, particularly of physicians, leading the training and deployment of non-physician clinicians (npcs). the paper by eyal et al provides interesting and legitimate viewpoints on evolving role of physicians in context of decisive increase of npcss in sub-saharan africa. certainly, in short or mid-term, npcs will continue to be a...

The editorial “Non-physician Clinicians in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Evolving Role of Physicians” by Eyal et al describes non-physician clinicians’ (NPC) need for mentorship and support from physicians. We emphasise the same need of support for front line generalist primary healthcare providers who carry out complex tasks yet may have an inadequate skill mix.

recent proposals for re-defining the roles africa’s health workforce are a continuation of the discussions that have been held since colonial times. the proposals have centred on basing the continent’s healthcare delivery on non-physician clinicians (npcs) who can be quickly trained and widely distributed to treat majority of the common diseases. whilst seemingly logical, the success of these p...

as eyal et al put forth in their piece, non-physician clinicians in sub-saharan africa and the evolving role of physicians, task-shifting across sub-saharan africa through non-physician clinicians (npcs) has led to an improvement in access to health services in the context of physician-shortages. here, we offer a commentary to the piece by eyal et al, concurring that physician’s roles should ev...

the editorial “non-physician clinicians in sub-saharan africa and the evolving role of physicians” by eyal et al describes non-physician clinicians’ (npc) need for mentorship and support from physicians. we emphasise the same need of support for front line generalist primary healthcare providers who carry out complex tasks yet may have an inadequate skill mix.

this commentary follows up on an editorial by eyal and colleagues in which these authors discuss the implications of the emergence of non-physician clinicians (npcs) on the health labour market for the education of medical doctors. we generally agree with those authors and we want to stress the importance of clarifying the terminology to describe these practitioners and of defining more formall...

a decade ago, sub-saharan africa accounted for 24% of the global disease burden but was served by only 4% of the global health workforce. the chronic shortage of medical doctors has led other health professionals especially nurses to perform the role of healthcare providers. these health workers have been variously named clinical officers, health officers, physician assistants, nurse practition...

The changing demands on the health sectors in low- and middle-income countries especially sub-Saharan African countries continue to challenge efforts to address critical shortages of the health workforce. Addressing these challenges have led to the evolution of “non-physician clinicians” (NPCs), that assume some physician roles and thus mitigate the continuing shortage of doctors in these count...

A decade ago, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 24% of the global disease burden but was served by only 4% of the global health workforce. The chronic shortage of medical doctors has led other health professionals especially nurses to perform the role of healthcare providers. These health workers have been variously named clinical officers, health officers, physician assistants, nurse practition...