"DC-OS": decentralized, on-site training; a sadly neglected option for building the Pacific Islands health workforce.

First, most jurisdictions rely on campus-based college programs to supply health workers. While programs have produced a steady supply of excellent health workers, the supply has fallen far short of regional needs. The geography of the Pacific, with relatively small, widely scattered populations, makes travel and communication difficult and expensive. Sending students abroad is too costly to allow the training of the large number of needed health workers in the region. Even if they could afford to do so, health services with large numbers of under-trained health workers could not send most away for training because there would be too few left to do the work. Family, community, social and emotional support is vital to most young people in the Pacific. Travel to a distant college results in the loss of social and emotional support for many students, resulting in high dropout and failure rates. Underdeveloped primary and secondary educational infrastructure in much of the region compounds this problem by leaving many students academically unprepared for more rigorous college programs. Students have limited opportunity to master course material. By the end of the semester, if “DC-OS”: Decentralized, On-Site Training; A Sadly Neglected Option for Building the Pacific Islands Health Workforce