This has been the implicit question behind the symposium on “Future of e-learning in CME/CPD”, held virtually on Jan 27, 2023.
The pandemic has boosted online education and provided us with evidence for phenomena we principally knew already before, but had not been able to assess their magnitude. This includes (among others) higher pace of spread of information, selective use of educational offers, satisfaction of learners’ immediate needs, increase in outreach, improvement of work-life-balance etc.
Since the pandemic has ceased to impact on our daily lives, questions about the future of online education still remain:
What role will online or hybrid education play for different health professionals in the long-term future?
Can facilitated access to online education establish a new level of efficiency in continuing education?
Will economic frameworks for online education ensure to maintain the levels of outreach achieved during the pandemic?
How can administrative procedures align with the new complexities of educational programs?
What should be in the focus of accrediting bodies (beyond independence)?
Our virtual symposium has discussed many of these questions and you are kindly invited to view the recordings of all presentations (available through http://e-cs-f.org/en/symposium-future-of-e-learning-in-cpd-27-01-2023/) as well as the official report, authored by Ron Murray and published in the Journal of CME (JCME): Ron Murray (2023) Report on the Peter Mills Honorary Symposium, Future of E-Learning in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Presented Online in January 2023 by the European Cardiology Section Foundation (ECSF®), Journal of CME, 12:1, DOI: 10.1080/28338073.2023.2205259
EBAC is currently in the process to revise its rules for accreditation of e-learning, and I would like to kindly invite you to provide us with your perspective on the future of e-learning and what you consider to be the most pressing issues in e-learning EBAC should deal with as an accrediting body. Please feel free to contact EBAC through accreditation@ebac-cme.org
This is a kind reminder on the fully virtual symposium on
“Future of e-Learning in continuing professional development (CPD)”
on 27. January 2023, 2pm CET
Please send an e-mail to <contact@e-cs-f.org> in order to receive the link to the conference.
This conference aims to develop a holistic approach to how to shape the future of e-learning. Don’t miss this opportunity to discuss with international experts!
We are looking back on a year shaken not only by the ongoing pandemic, but also by a crisis brought about by the Russian-Ukrainian war. Globalisation does not only facilitate the spread of infectious diseases, but also forms a basis for deadly domino effects in case of events as the Russian war against Ukraine, with countries in the global South now suffering from severe famine. This is a strong reminder for us as medical profession that community health may only be achieved, when we also consider the social and political dimension of medicine, including medical education.
EBAC® accredits activities with global attendance, and activities in different parts of the world outside Europe. As an accrediting body we have strengthened our contribution to this complex process by incorporating in the EBAC® basic documents that educational “content should always contain a community health perspective” (http://www.ebac-cme.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Roles-and-Responsibilities-of-Providers-f-2022.pdf), to support providers and faculty to meet the needs of participants, often having a diverse health-care systems’ background.
In 2022 the provider community has still been struggling to find the new normal between live in-person meetings and online education. EBAC® would like to actively contribute to this discussion with its fully virtual symposium on
Please mark your calendars, we will provide you with the final program and further connection details in due time! This conference aims to discuss the many pros and cons around e-learning and find an integrative approach serving as many relevant aspects as possible.
On behalf of EBAC staff and reviewers I would like to extend our warm thanks to all of you for your continuing cooperation and support in 2022! Please stay safe!
With best wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year Yours sincerely
International Academy for CPD Accreditation (IACPDA) Standards for Substantive Equivalency between CME/CPD Accreditation Systems and their application in a pilot recognition procedure. After adoption of the IACPDA Standards in CCC20 the subsequent CCC has finalized the details of the recognition procedure, to be tested in a pilot, on which applicants as well as reviewers are going to report.
Learning during and in the post-pandemic era The covid-19 pandemic has forced a change to electronic media to keep CPD up and running. While covid restrictions are becoming less tight CCC22 will discuss what might be the “new normal” and how accreditation bodies might adapt their procedures to new formats. European contributions will come from BioMed Alliance and Fabiola de Andrade (formerly with EBAH)
Team-based learning While already being a popular learning format in the US and Canada team-based learning is still in its early days in Europe. This session will include a report on C_19 SPACE, an interprofessional program developed and rolled out by the European Society for Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), addressing physicians and nurses with the aim to increase intensive care workforce. This program has initially been funded by the EU, accredited by EBAC, and has now been adopted by WHO to be rolled out globally.
In follow up of the last EBAC Newsletter we would like to provide you with the information to implement the new EBAC online evaluation tool into your educational activities.
From June 15, 2022, on all accreditation statements will contain a URL and a QR code to access the online evaluation form for your respective educational activity.
Thus, please take care that
planning committee and faculty be informed to design the program accordingly and include “evaluation” as last point of the agenda. From June 15, 2022, on the EBAC review process will contain a check, whether this has been implemented in the program
the last speaker will integrate the URL as well as the QR code into her/his presentation (for further details please see below)
at the very end of each educational activity the URL as well as the QR code are presented to participants as a “last slide”, to be displayed for 3 minutes
participants can only claim their certificates after filling the evaluation form (relates to all education delivered online, including “on demand” versions).
You are kindly invited to report on your experience with the new tool in a virtual conference to be scheduled about 8 weeks after the launch of the new online evaluation form.
How to find the URL and the QR-code for your activity?
In the EBAC Management (https://services.ebac-cme.org) search for your programme and go to “Programme details”. Next to “Invoice” you will find a new tab “Survey”. Selecting this tab shows you the URL and the QR-code for your survey.
The URL for your survey starts with “http://ebac.vote/” followed by a 4 – 6 digit code. The QR-code can be scanned by most smartphone and points the smartphone’s web-browser directly to your survey.
To copy the URL to your computer’s clipboard, click on “Copy to pasteboard”. This will copy the URL into your pasteboard, and you can insert it into any other document.
To download the QR-code image to your computer, click “Download QR-code image”. Your web-browser will download the image as PNG file. You can insert it into any other document from your downloads folder.
EBAC has implemented an online evaluation tool to ensure that evaluation is an integral part of each educational activity.
Evaluation of accredited CPD is essential to inform
providers whether they have met their objectives,
faculty about the uptake of their presentations, and
the accrediting body about the perception of the participants.
EBAC makes evaluation mandatory for all accredited activities, and has offered a paper-based evaluation form for download on its website. However, in the past, paper-based evaluation has, for various reasons, often resulted in poor response rates.
The new online tool consists of 5 questions. It is accessible through a short URL as well as a QR code. These codes are provided by the EBAC Management System and shall be distributed by the provider to the participants at the end of each activity.
From June, 15, 2022 on this new procedure will automatically become part of all EBAC accredited CPD activities. More detailed information will be provided soon.
Please start to plan your schedules accordingly by reserving three minutes for online evaluation at the end of your programs.
The next webinar in our regular series of webinars on topics also relevant to medical education will focus on patient safety, regulatory frameworks, and innovations in digital health, taking the publicly refunded digital health apps in Germany as a starting point for our discussion:
Digital innovations in medicine – progress vs risk for our patients
featuring
Susanne Habetha, MD and
Sven Sauermann, Healthcare Heads Ltd., Kiel, Germany
Since 2020 the covid pandemic disrupted not only societies but also medical education.
What at first has been a survival strategy to many providers in 2020 has to a large part become the new normal:
“live” events (webinars), delivered online, often were followed by open access to the content for varying timespans (on demand), or hybrid activities. The latter comprising
activities with in person audience, simultaneously broadcasted online
asynchronous learning followed by a webinar (based on the content studied during asynchronous learning)
in person meeting followed by an opportunity to further discuss and study related material online,
this list will probably not be exhaustive.
Recent reports in the Journal of European CME (JECME) have suggested that these new formats of learning – by far the quantitatively dominating educational format in the past – are at least as effective as in person meetings.
According to JECME accrediting bodies and regulators have reacted to this change and adapted, at least temporarily, accreditation rules of e-learning and accepted electronic learning formats as equivalent proof of CME.
It is not yet clear however whether this will be considered a temporary adaption or a lasting change in accreditation policy.
EBAC has already enabled accreditation of micro-e-learning for several years, and thus, could quickly adapt to the new challenges and assimilate the new formats under this framework. EBAC accepts tracking as proof of participation for all online learning formats (for further details please refer to the relevant documents on the EBAC website, or contact the EBAC office).
