Using a critical approach, the overarching aim of this study was to examine the process of developing continuing education curricula in a developing country. The following foreshadowed issues that provided direction for the study are drawn from personal knowledge and experience obtained\ud
working in the health sector in less developed countries undergoing a process of reform, as well as from the limited research literature available in this field:\ud
• that a contextually appropriate process for developing curricula from the Cambodian perspective is not understood by expatriates;\ud
• an understanding of the power relations in which health worker curricula are being developed is a significant factor in providing training that will enhance service delivery; and,\ud
• an understanding of the relationships between economy, culture and politics are crucial to the development of contextually appropriate continuing education curricula in a developing country that is undergoing health sector reform.\ud
The qualitative data obtained through the stories of the six participants in the study described their understanding of the process of developing continuing education curricula and curriculum practice. These data were complemented by field visit data and document analysis. Together these\ud
data sources provided insight into the complexities of the power-knowledge relationships within the country, the institutions and within the programme where the six participants, two doctors and four midwives worked and in which the study was undertaken