University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
College of nursing, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 May 10;24(1):524. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05437-8.
In recent years, the subspecialty of neuropalliative care has emerged with the goal of improving the quality of life of patients suffering from neurological disease, though gaps remain in neuropalliative care education and training. E-learning has been described as a way to deliver interactive and facilitated lower-cost learning to address global gaps in medical care. We describe here the development of a novel, international, hybrid, and asynchronous curriculum with both self-paced modules and class-based lectures on neuropalliative care topics designed for the neurologist interested in palliative care, the palliative care physician interested in caring for neurological patients, and any other physician or advanced care providers interested in neuropalliative care.
The course consisted of 12 modules, one per every four weeks, beginning July 2022. Each module is based on a case and relevant topics. Course content was divided into three streams (Neurology Basics, Palliative Care Basics, and Neuropalliative Care Essentials) of which two were optional and one was mandatory, and consisted of classroom sessions, webinars, and an in-person skills session. Evaluation of learners consisted of multiple choice questions and written assignments for each module. Evaluation of the course was based on semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with both educator and learner, the latter of which will be published separately. Audio files were transcribed and underwent thematic analysis. For the discussion of the results, Khan's e-learning framework was used.
Ten of the 12 participating educators were interviewed. Of the educators, three identified as mid-career and seven as senior faculty, ranging from six to 33 years of experience. Nine of ten reported an academic affiliation and all reported association with a teaching hospital. Themes identified from the educators' evaluations were: bridging the global gap, getting everybody on board, defining the educational scope, investing extensive hours of voluntary time and resources, benefiting within and beyond the curriculum, understanding the learner's experience, creating a community of shared learning, adapting future teaching and learning strategies, and envisioning long term sustainability.
The first year of a novel, international, hybrid, and asynchronous neuropalliative care curriculum has been completed, and its educators have described both successes and avenues for improvement. Further research is planned to assess this curriculum from the learner perspective.
近年来，神经姑息治疗亚专科出现了，其目标是提高患有神经疾病的患者的生活质量，但神经姑息治疗教育和培训仍存在差距。电子学习已被描述为一种提供互动和促进低成本学习的方式，以解决医疗保健方面的全球性差距。我们在这里描述了一种新的、国际的、混合的和异步的课程的开发，该课程既有自我指导的模块，也有关于神经姑息治疗主题的课堂讲座，专为对姑息治疗感兴趣的神经科医生、对照顾神经科患者感兴趣的姑息治疗医生以及任何其他对神经姑息治疗感兴趣的医生或高级护理提供者设计。
该课程由 12 个模块组成，每个模块每四周一个，从 2022 年 7 月开始。每个模块都基于一个案例和相关主题。课程内容分为三个流（神经科基础知识、姑息治疗基础知识和神经姑息治疗要点），其中两个是可选的，一个是必修的，包括课堂会议、网络研讨会和现场技能会议。对学习者的评估包括每个模块的多项选择题和书面作业。对课程的评估是基于对教育者和学习者的半结构化定性访谈，后者将单独发表。音频文件被转录并进行了主题分析。在讨论结果时，使用了 Khan 的电子学习框架。
10 名参与教育者中的 10 名接受了采访。在教育者中，有 3 名处于中级职业阶段，有 7 名处于高级教职阶段，经验从 6 年到 33 年不等。10 名教育者中有 9 名都有学术背景，并且都与教学医院有联系。从教育者的评估中确定的主题包括：弥合全球差距、让每个人都参与进来、定义教育范围、投入大量的自愿时间和资源、在课程内外受益、了解学习者的体验、建立一个共同学习的社区、调整未来的教学和学习策略、以及设想长期可持续性。
一项新的、国际的、混合的和异步的神经姑息治疗课程的第一年已经完成，其教育者描述了成功和改进的途径。计划进一步研究从学习者的角度评估这一课程。
