In October 2025, the Novo Nordisk Foundation co-hosted the first PEP Symposium with the University of Copenhagen, bringing together partners and global experts under the theme “Strengthening the quality of health professions education in a digital world”.
The programme combined partner presentations on achievements and future ambitions with keynote talks and a panel discussion on digital education for the health workforce, setting a shared direction and sparking new ideas.
The symposium reflected PEP’s partnership-driven approach, recognising that collaboration is central to delivering meaningful change. By connecting institutions across India, East Africa and Denmark, PEP enables knowledge exchange, co-creation and peer learning, while scaling effective educational practice and innovative teaching across its network. In practice, this includes cross-institutional workshops, networking and exposure visits that allow partners to share what works, address common challenges together, broaden access to resources, and pilot new educational solutions.
“We are talking about partnerships that thrive in an environment of familiarity and trust. We sit together to jointly discuss common problems and explore solutions. I think that is probably the true reason why a partnership like this is designed for success,” explains Professor Himanshu Negandhi, Public Health Foundation of India.
This is echoed by Lene Søndergaard Andersen, Associate Professor at VIA University College, Denmark: “Our mutual site visits have been crucial in establishing trust and creating a solid foundation for our collaboration. It is an opportunity for us to get inspired by how partners in India and Kenya have structured their nursing education, as there is much we can learn from their ways of doing things.”
Ahead of the symposium, two interactive pre-symposium days featured site visits and bilateral meetings, including a visit to the House of Practice and Innovation at University College Copenhagen, where participants from India and Kenya experienced simulation-based teaching in Danish nursing education.
Communities of practice cultivating learning and innovation in health workforce education
A concrete outcome of the symposium was the establishment of cross-country communities of practice (CoPs), focused on themes such as AI in health professions education, integration of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) in curricula, and teacher competencies in a digital world.
The CoPs are intended to spark peer-to-peer platforms that strengthen collaboration and accelerate innovation which can support shared goals and build enduring partnerships that extend beyond PEP.
Learn more about the 2025 Symposium in this video.
Examples of collaborative activities under PEP
- Joint webinars for faculty development between CMC Vellore and UCPH
- Global research mentorships across partner institutions
- Creation of communities of practice to stimulate knowledge sharing and innovation across partner institutions
- Competency course on clinical leadership by AIIMS and the Danish university colleges, informing AIIMS’ new Training-of-Trainers programme
- Short course on pedagogics between the Danish university colleges and Medical Training Colleges in Kenya
Read more about Partnership for Education of Health Professionals (PEP) here.
