RETS - Rede Internacional de Educação de Técnicos em Saúde

In this third edition of the RETS Journal, we celebrate with our readers the launch of the Network’s website (http://www.rets.epsjv.fiocruz.br), another important step in the consolidation of the experiential exchange process in the areas of education, research and technical cooperation, with a view to improving the area of health technician education. We have made a special invitation (page 5) to the RETS 2nd General Meeting to member institutions, which will be held in early December in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, reminding all that the participation of everyone is essential to the success of the initiative and for the continuity of our work.

The migration of health workers and the Pedagogy of Competencies are the magazine’s main themes. What are the causes and consequences of migration, both internal or to other countries, of the health workforce? What is being done to reduce the negative effects that migration engenders, especially to the more vulnerable populations? These are some of the issues identified in our cover article by Mario Roberto Dal Poz, Coordinator of the Department of Health Human Resources, World Health Organization (WHO) and Chief Editor of the journal Human Resources for Health, and by Magda Awases, Health Human Resources Development Advisor of the Afro/WHO.

In the interview, on the other hand, the reader will discover the opinion of Brazilian educator Marise Ramos, one of the greatest scholars on the subject, about the competency model, which for some 20 years has guided technical training throughout the world, as well as the possible results for education and society of the uncritical adoption of this healthcare proposal.

In addition, the journal presents the work of the Bolivian Chaco ‘Tekove Katu’ School of Health in the training of indigenous healthcare professionals, which, combining the views of classical and traditional medicine, respecting local customs and practices, and being cognizant of the local reality, experience and native tongue, is able to more effectively meet the immediate needs of the native population.

Further, the magazine provides an overview of the Strategic Plan for Cooperation in Health (Pecs 2009-2012), approved on May 15, with the objective of strengthening the healthcare systems of Member States of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP); once again ponders aspects of the latest

World Health Report focusing on the workforce; and in the Glossary section launches a discussion on the polysemy of the term “Health technician education.”

Happy reading!

RETS Executive Secretariat