Washington D.C (PAHO): The number of users to register for courses on the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) has surpassed 4 million, underscoring the platform’s role as a vital tool for the training of health personnel in the Region of the Americas.
The Virtual Campus is a free, open-access online educational platform, primarily aimed at health care workers and students in related fields, that offers courses in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French. Participants that complete a course, pass evaluations and then respond to the Virtual Campus quality survey can download a certification of participation from PAHO.
“The Virtual Campus is a key tool for PAHO’s technical cooperation in the Region,” said Gabriel Listovsky, Head of the Virtual Campus Special Program at PAHO. “It’s growth reflects the Organization’s commitment to building the capacity of health personnel, particularly in a context where lifelong learning and equitable access to knowledge are essential to achieving universal health.”
In recent years, the Virtual Campus has expanded to incorporate specific learning pathways that integrate courses, seminars, and resources to strengthen specific competencies in priority areas of public health. Three pathways are available to date: (1) Regulation of Medicines and Health Technologies; (2) Better Care for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs); and (3) Digital Health.
Beyond self-managed courses, the PAHO Campus also provides tutor-led activities, communities of practice, and access to supplementary educational materials such as guides, presentations, videos, and bibliography. A mobile application, launched in 2023, also facilitates access from phones and allows offline navigation.
The majority of Virtual Campus users are health care workers, and 69% are women. Half of the users work in hospital settings, while 36% work in health centers or primary health care facilities, which are key areas of focus for strengthening resilient health care systems based on primary health care.
“As we continue to move forward, our focus will remain on expanding the Virtual Campus to reach more health workers and students in remote and underserved areas,” added Listovsky. “We are also working to promote the responsible and strategic use of Artificial Intelligence within health education.”
