Graduate Tracking

MEPI Connect is a software system that supports medical schools to track and engage with their graduates. The system allows users to view and analyze graduates’ demographic and professional information. The information is obtained initially from the school registrar’s office, then from the graduates themselves, and, when possible, from human resources information systems at ministries of health and/or professional councils. The software was developed by the PEPFAR-funded Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Physician Tracking Technical Working Group in collaboration with CapacityPlus and the MEPI Coordinating Center. This document describes resource requirements to customize and implement the system.

This case study is part of the interactive ePlatform for the World Health Organization’s guidelines on transforming and scaling up health professionals’ education and training. CapacityPlus is collaborating with the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Coordinating Center, MEPI Physician Tracking Technical Working Group, and MEPI-supported medical schools in 11 African countries to develop resources and good practices for graduate tracking and to foster exchange through a regional graduate tracking network. The MEPI Connect graduate tracking software is helping African medical schools to remain connected with their graduates. Tracking allows institutions to assess the effectiveness of strategies to retain graduates at posts in underserved areas.

This presentation was given on August 7, 2014, at the Physician Tracking Technical Working Group Session during the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Annual Symposium in Maputo, Mozambique.

The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Physician Tracking Technical Working Group convened a workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, to develop the functional requirements and business processes necessary to construct a framework for tracking graduates. Held on October 21–23, 2013, the workshop was a collaborative effort among the chair of the Technical Working Group, the MEPI Coordinating Center, CapacityPlus, and the Public Health Informatics Institute. Each participating school formulated a graduate tracking vision and identified needed tools and guidance. The group selected software, capacity-building, and infrastructure as the top three priorities on which the MEPI Technical Working Group should focus its time and energy. Going forward, participants agreed to share what each institution is doing to develop graduate tracking, hold institutions accountable for their progress, network to sustain momentum, jointly develop graduate tracking tools, collaborate to develop articles, and assist institutions in tracking graduates across borders.