Developing a community of practice in health professions education: reflections from the Africa HPE ECHO project

Aim This paper discusses key themes that emerged from the Africa Health Professions Education Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Africa HPE ECHO) online discussion sessions and provides recommendations for development of the community of practice and integration of the identified themes into health professions education. Method A qualitative study was employed to identify themes that emerged from transcripts of reflective discussion sessions. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to recruit health educators through the authors’ personal networks and by snowballing. Between 2024 and 2025, 36 60-minute sessions were held, with on average 24 participants attending each session. FS, IC and JC inductively extracted key themes from the transcripts of each recorded session, while PB provided overall review of those. Findings Participants valued having a safe, supportive space in which to explore the issues they face, and appreciated that many of their challenges were shared or commonly experienced among the group. They reflected on the absence of any such learning and practice communities in their institutions, and on the importance of the support offered by the Africa HPE ECHO discussion sessions. Scenarios presented during the sessions addressed a wide range of topics that coalesced around five themes: caring; fit-for-purpose professionals; growth mindset; leading; and swimming upstream. The rift between theory and practice, and what transformation is required in both education and health care were cross-cutting issues across all themes. The sessions enabled in-depth exploration of ideas, responses, and practices aimed at facilitating the development of educators as change agents within the healthcare system. Conclusion There is a need for a community of practice where healthcare educators and other stakeholders in this field can engage in discussions to explore potential solutions to the challenges of training caring, fit-for-purpose healthcare professionals and leaders, in a rapidly changing world of AI and environmental uncertainty.