Graduate Tracking Systems for the Medical Schools in Africa: Processes for Developing an Implementation Framework

Human resources for health are critical for effective health systems. In Africa, the number of doctors and nurses required to provide essential health services will be deficient by an estimated 800,000 in 2015. Numerous interventions have been implemented to mitigate these shortages; tracking graduates from African universities is critical to determine whether interventions are effective. Based on a community of practice theory, a Graduate Tracking Technical Working Group was established within the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) network. The group, with CapacityPlus, developed graduate tracking requirements for MEPI institutions and countries through a collaborative process. A framework was created to guide the establishment of graduate tracking systems consisting of seven core processes or elements: 1) general requirements; 2) locate graduates; 3) collect/update information; 4) search and view information; 5) create tracking survey tools; 6) manage tracking survey response data; and 7) generate reports. CapacityPlus’s Dykki Settle contributed to this article in the journal’s MEPI supplement issue.