Policy Brief: Building an adolescent-competent workforce

The workforce is at the heart of every health system. The WHO report Health for the world’s adolescents: a second chance in the second decade suggests that progress towards universal health coverage for adolescents will require renewed attention to the education of healthcare providers (WHO, 2014). 

Globally, evidence is growing that education in adolescent medicine improves the clinical performance of health-care practitioners (Sanci, 2000; Sawyer, 2013). A paradox persists, however: Health professionals report high interest in developing skills to work better with adolescents, and yet their educational needs remain unmet Sawyer, 2013.