The Barcelona International Symposium (21-23 April 2005). Synthesis reports.

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Health Workforce Research
• International Health

Background:

• The symposium convened 51 experts from 34 institutions across 18 countries in Barcelona, Spain.
• Hosted by the Institut d'Estudis de la Salut, it focused on national health systems.
• The event aimed to evaluate historical health workforce trends and predict future trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a platform for assessing past trends in the health workforce.
• To forecast future developments in health workforce within diverse national health systems.
• To facilitate discussion on critical issues impacting the global health workforce.

Main Methods:

• The symposium featured 5 sessions for participant-contributed paper presentations.
• It included 5 dedicated discussion sessions on specific health workforce themes.
• Each discussion session was led by a designated leader who prepared a synthesis report.

Main Results:

• Discussions covered crucial topics including health workforce supply and demand.
• Future trends, forecasting methodologies, and strategic planning were examined.
• The symposium also addressed health workforce challenges in underserved areas and international migration patterns.

Conclusions:

• The symposium facilitated a comprehensive assessment of past and future health workforce trends.
• It highlighted the need for strategic planning and management of health workforce globally.
• International collaboration and addressing workforce distribution are crucial for equitable health systems.