Global Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 1, Issue 3, pp.1-11, September 2013 Published By European Centre for Research Training and Development UK 1 TRAINING HUMAN RESOURCE FOR 21ST CENTURY NIGERIAN HEALTH SECTOR Anthonia Adindu Department of Public Health, College of Medical Sciences University of Calabar, Nigeria Anne Asuquo Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences University of Calabar, Nigeria ABSTRACT: The health sector is labour intensive, requires diverse professionals and precise application of knowledge to deliver quality service. Health training institutions are critical in the health system and affect the lives of people because quality of training affects performance of health workers. Training curricula for most professions in Nigeria are clinical and curative oriented, training institutions are therefore, partly responsible for failure of the health system. Changes in the health environment necessitate training institutions to integrate additional critical competencies, required to bridge the knowledge and skill gaps, since professionals take on management and leadership responsibilities at different levels soon after graduation. This paper examines additional competencies that Nigerian health professionals require in order to function effectively in the 21 st century health sector: skills in health policy analysis, health planning, organising, and leadership, quality assurance, managing human resource, teamwork, effective communication skills, and holistic thinking. KEYWORDS: Health Human Resource; Training health human resource; 21 st century health human resource. INTRODUCTION The health sector subsystems are interconnected and work in synergy to achieve results. Understanding poor health situations in Nigeria requires shift from proclivity of examining different parts in isolation to a holistic approach, understanding the connections and synergies necessary for system’s performance. Health sectors around the world are typically labour intensive depending on diverse workers to provide services and to support system operation. The premium on life makes precise application of knowledge and skills imperative, thus extending training of health care professionals. Health training institutions are therefore critical part of the health system, affect lives of individuals, and national development; and are part of the social and economic development system, success, or failure spills to the general population. The quality of training affects performance of health workers, health of people, and health of the nation. Training institutions are hence, partly responsible for failures of health systems, particularly in Africa. Marsden, Caffrey and McCaffery (2013) suggest human resource management is the integrated use of systems, policies, and practices that provide a range of functions needed to plan, produce, deploy,