ISSUES IN MEDICINE: Models for increasing the health workforce

A stable human resource base in the health sector is critical to achieving health-related Millennium Development Goals. There is a severe quantitative and qualitative shortfall of healthcare professionals in South Africa, and the existing and future health workforce production is inadequate for our healthcare needs. The production model must include all healthcare disciplines because the quadruple burden of disease necessitates multi-professional healthcare teams working synergistically to improve health outcomes and life expectancy.