The huge potential of e-learning for the Healthcare sector

A recent review published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and carried out by Imperial College London (ICL) has declared that e-learning could help millions of additional students around the world to access healthcare education.

In parallel to the increasing shortage of healthcare professionals worldwide – currently estimated at 7.2 million – there is a growing number of students needed to be trained.

The report based on 108 studies shows that students acquired the skills and knowledge from e-learning with as much retention, or even in some cases more than, the same lessons taught in a traditional setting. The report also highlighted the benefits of blended learning where the training consists partly of classroom learning and partly of self directed e-learning, with both approaches working together to complement and enhance each other.

More and more healthcare organisations are adopting telemedecine and e-learning through LMSs and MOOCs, the benefits of which are experienced by various stakeholders:

Students:

• E-learning offers them the flexibility to fit their training around their lifestyle and work schedules
• They can access their training anywhere, at anytime and learn at their own pace
• E-learning is interactive, practical and relevant therefore increasing engagement

Trainers:

• Trainers can reach their students wherever they are located and assess their progress
• E-learning allows multiple providers to train together and share collaborative tools

HR:

• E-learning can become part of the recruitment process allowing the quick assessment of candidates in particular overseas applicants
• In a similar way, e-learning allows for quick and successful onboarding

Patients:

• Many US hospitals, who are experiencing staff shortage have turned to telemedecine to cope with the increased number of patients

E-learning could therefore be the answer to help train more health workers globally, in particular in growing countries by allowing them to get access to better education.

According to Dr Josip Car, from the school of public health at ICL, E-learning programmes could “potentially help address the shortage of healthcare workers, especially in developing countries.” He adds that “although there are still challenges to overcome such as access to computers and internet, universities should encourage the development of e-learning curricula”.

Health organisations aspiring to follow this recommendation can learn from their counterparts who have successfully implementing e-learning platforms. For example, our customer UCLH has seen many benefits since the launch of their Totara platform including reduced onboarding time and dramatically improved compliance figures.

If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of implementing an e-learning platform contact us at info@webanywhere.co.uk or give us a call on 0113 3200 750.

Sources

• https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/can-hospitals-trust-e-learning-as-a-recruitment-tool/355153/
• https://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/specialisms/educators/e-learning-could-help-solve-global-shortage-of-nurses-says-who-report/5078113.article
• https://www.careappointments.co.uk/education-training/item/36348-study-reveals-e-learning-benefits-to-healthcare-workers
• https://www.webanywhere.co.uk/workplace/case-studies/uclh
• https://communities.bma.org.uk/community_focus/b/future_docs_news/archive/2015/01/15/e-learning-benefits-could-boost-medical-student-numbers