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Indian Pediatr 2018;55: 82 |
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E-Learning in Medical Education: Indian
Working Model in Practice
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* Anu Thukral and Ashok K
Deorari
Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Email:
[email protected]
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We read with interest the recent review on e-learning by Dhir, et al. [1]. The review introduces the concept of
e-learning, and discusses its need and scope in medical education in
India. It also supports the adoption of e-learning as an add-on tool to
traditional learning; the advantages far outweighing the possible
limitations. It also highlights the importance of smartphones as a
common modality for knowledge dissemination; the potential advantage
being a point-of-care tool, and improved networking and collaboration.
We would like to appraise the readers that World
Health Organization Collaborating Centre (WHO-CC) for Training and
Research in Newborn Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS), New Delhi has created smartphone apps on standard treatment
protocols (STP) for management of sick newborns, and essential newborn
care (both android and iOS versions, details available at
http://newbornwhocc.org/smart_phon. html). The content of these apps
is based on evidence-based practices, and has been validated at AIIMS
WHO-CC. The efficacy of the App on standard treatment protocols (STP)
for management of sick newborns in small hospitals has been reported in
nursing students and physicians working in special newborn care [2,3].
Recently, a WHO report described our smartphone
apps as an innovation for service delivery to disseminate best practices
[4].
In addition, our center has been involved in
e-learning through an online platform (www.ontop-in.org) since
2010. Our experience [5] suggested that online learning is feasible and
effective for training health care professionals in acquiring knowledge
and skills related to essential newborn care. So far, we have trained
nearly 3500 physicians and over 1000 nursing professionals in 12 sick
newborn care courses and five essential newborn care courses. The
platform also hosts courses on quality improvement and continuous
positive airway pressure (blended course), which are undergoing further
refinement. We shall soon be starting few other courses for
professionals working in small hospitals. We have over 30 centers spread
across India and the South East Asian region. Hence the statement in the
reviews [1] that "most of the e-learning activity done by the residents
in the medical colleges is limited to data search for their thesis and
research work" may be an underestimation of the penetration and value of
e-learning.
Over the last few years, we have been able to
overcome most of the issues listed by the authors as the limitations of
e-learning: namely, hardware and software issues, (using free customized
platforms) connectivity (giving the material to students on a thumb
drive so that heavy files can be seen and reviewed before they come
online for participation in quizzes and chats), faculty and support
staff shortage (the faculty from nodal centers are also the mentors of
students and keen learners themselves), technical support (once
functional minimal technical support is required by empowering them to
create local IT solutions) and lack of face-to-face interaction (weekly
online live webinars and chat sessions). We have been running a
successful model for nearly a decade now, and the interested
professionals are welcome to learn from our model.
References
1. Dhir SK, Verma D, Batta M, Mishra D. E-learning in
medical education in India. Indian Pediatr. 2017;54:871-7.
2. Thukral A, Joshi M, Joshi P, Prakash V, Adkoli BV,
Deorari AK. Apps for management of sick newborn: Evaluation of impact on
health care professionals. J Trop Pediatr. 2014;60:370-6.
3. Prakash V, Thukral A, Sankar MJ, Agarwal R, Paul
VK, Deorari AK. Efficacy and acceptability of an "App on sick newborn
care" in physicians from newborn units. BMC Med Educ. 2016;16: 84.
4. Reaching the Every Newborn National 2020
Milestones Country Progress, Plans and Moving Forward Geneva: World
Health Organization. WHO, UNICEF report 2017. Accessed October 1, 2017.
5. Thukral A, Sasi A, Chawla D, Datta P, Wahid S, Rao S, et al.
Online neonatal training and orientation programme in india (ontop-in)—1/nthe
way forward for distance education in developing countries. J Trop
Pediatr. 2012;58:486-9.
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