We invite original research papers and extended abstracts for the workshop “The Healthcare Professional of 2035: Mapping the Competencies for a Changing World”.
Digital transformation is changing public health and healthcare, yet workforce readiness encompasses far more than technical expertise. The workshop explores the interplay between digital capabilities and the human, cognitive, professional, ethical and systems competencies needed to respond to complex future health needs.
We welcome empirical, theoretical, methodological and educational contributions from public health, health professions education, clinical practice, workforce planning, global health, social sciences, digital health and related disciplines. We particularly encourage multidisciplinary research, studies from underrepresented contexts, and work that examines practical teaching, assessment, implementation or workforce consequences. Accepted contributions will inform short research presentations and facilitated competency-mapping discussions.
Click here for full information on the workshop.
!! Deadlines !!
| Workshop Call for Papers (CFP) – Submission deadline | 23 December 2026 |
| Workshop Call for Papers (CFP) – Notification deadline | 28 January 2027 |
| Camera-ready deadline | 7 April 2027 |
Themes of interest
Suggested topics (non-exhaustive):
- Competency frameworks, workforce foresight, future professional roles and competency prioritisation.
- Emotional intelligence, empathy, communication, human-centred care and cultural humility.
- Critical reasoning, evidence appraisal, information literacy, misinformation and uncertainty.
- Digital health, artificial intelligence literacy, responsible innovation and changing professional judgement.
- Ethics, accountability, professional identity, leadership, teamwork and interprofessional practice.
- Climate resilience, population ageing, multimorbidity, health equity, emergency preparedness and systems thinking.
- Competency-based curricula, simulation, workplace learning, continuing professional development and authentic assessment.
- Workforce capacity-building interventions, implementation, evaluation and cross-country comparisons.
Submission guidelines
We encourage interested author(s) to submit either a full paper or an extended abstract. The author(s) of an accepted paper/ abstract, which is presented in-person at DPH 2027 in London, will be included in the conference proceedings – extended abstracts will be included in Frontiers proceedings, and full papers will be submitted for possible inclusion into IEEE Xplore.
For submitting a Full Paper, please follow the instructions:
- All submissions must be not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference.
- Scope: Original empirical, methodological or sufficiently developed conceptual research.
- The papers must range between 4‑8 pages, including references and any appendices.
- Papers should conform to the IEEE double column format: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html
- Papers must be anonymised: the names and affiliations removed, and any references to previous works either substituted with “anonymised” or rephrased.
- All submissions must be submitted in PDF format using the Easychair submission system. Click on the submission button below and choose the “DPH2027 Workshop – The Healthcare Professional of 2035” track.
- Please paste your Abstract in the Abstract field in the Easychair system for ease of processing and review allocation.
NOTE that:
- Full Paper submissions will be reviewed by three reviewers from the PC and SPC committees and assessed in terms of their quality, relevance to the conference, originality, significance, correctness, and clarity.
- All accepted papers will have their own DOI.
- Accepted papers will need to incorporate reviewers’ comments and re-submit their paper by the Camera-ready deadline. Instructions will be provided.
- Papers accepted for publication must have at least one author registered and must be presented in person at the conference in order to be considered for publication by IEEE Xplore. Papers from no-show authors will be removed from the proceedings.
- An accepted paper may be selected for either oral or poster presentation depending on review score and topic specificity.
For submitting an Extended Abstract, please follow the instructions:
- Please format your submission using Times New Roman, 12 pt font size, with justified alignment. The submission must not exceed 1000 words, excluding the reference list. References are compulsory and should be included in the submission. A maximum of two figures or tables may be included.
- Scope: Research results, educational interventions, reviews or well-specified work in progress.
- Extended Abstracts could follow the standard structure: Introduction, Background, Methods / Datasets, Results, and Conclusion. Alternatively, computer science and engineering abstracts can follow alternative structure such as Introduction, Background, Framework / Architecture, Implementation, Results (if available), Novelty and Challenges and Conclusion.
- Submissions must be anonymised: the names and affiliations removed, and any references to previous works either substituted with “anonymised” or rephrased.
- All submissions must be submitted in PDF format using the Easychair submission system. Click on the submission button below and choose the “DPH2027 Workshop – The Healthcare Professional of 2035” track.
- Paste your first section (Aims/Abstract/Overview) to the Abstract field in the Easychair system for ease of processing and review allocation.
NOTE that:
- Abstract submissions will be reviewed by two to three reviewers from the PC and SPC committees and assessed in terms of their quality, relevance to the conference, originality, significance, correctness, and clarity.
- Accepted Extended Abstracts will have to incorporate reviewers’ comments and re-submit their abstract by the Camera-ready deadline. Instructions will be provided.
- An accepted abstract may be selected for either oral or poster presentation depending on review score and topic specificity.
Selected authors may be invited to present in a short oral research segment. The number and format of presentations will depend on the accepted programme, allocated workshop duration and any conference-approved poster arrangements. The organisers will maintain substantial time for scenario-based participatory competency mapping.
DPH guidance specifies that PC reviewers should normally hold a PhD or equivalent doctoral qualification and SPC members should normally be established mid-career or senior academics (typically professor level); exceptions for senior industry/portfolio-career experts require DPH Chair approval. Reviewers and chairs will be confirmed before allocation. The chairs will select accepted contributions and notify authors by 28 January 2027.
Contact
All questions about submissions should be emailed to:
- Celine Tabche – celine.tabche@imperial.ac.uk
General questions about the conference can be sent to support@dphconf.org.
SUBMISSION
Submission is via EasyChair.