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Health workforce education and training

The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health  and the report of the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth  evidence a growing mismatch between supply, need (SDG-based) and demand (ability to employ) resulting in skills and staff shortages, even in high-income countries. Shortages are driven both by the demographic and epidemiological transitions facing countries and by the ambition of UHC and integrated, people-centred service delivery models. Scaling up and strengthening the quality of health workforce education and training to address the global gap of 18 million health workers, and to support, strengthen and empower the existing health workforce, is a priority in the 2019 multi-agency SDG global action plan  and the WHO 13 th General Programme of Work . The WHO Secretariat supports countries to review policy options, including regulatory frameworks, management and information systems for human resources for health, and education systems that can meet current and future needs of communities. Socially accountable education models for health professionals will have to be matched by scale-up of technical vocational education and training for other health and social occupations. Current priorities within the WHO Health Workforce Department include:

• The Global Health Workforce Network Education Hub , coordinated by the WHO Health Workforce Department, brings together a collaboration of networks, agencies, academic institutions and individual experts to work collaboratively towards the development and dissemination of products that facilitate better alignment of student selection, pre-service and in-service education and training with population needs, health systems and health labour markets. The Education Hub is currently focusing on the development of a Global Competency Framework for UHC;
• Ensuring the quality and sustainability of the health workforce is essential to the achievement of UHC. The accreditation of educational institutions and the regulation of health worker practice are core mechanisms to ensure health workforce quality and sustainability. Across WHO Member States, regulatory mechanisms and resources are under stress due to the increasing volume and privatization of health professional education; rising importance of previously unregulated occupations; emergence of new occupations; humanitarian crises; accelerating international mobility; as well as escalating patient demand and expectation.  At the same time, innovations and reforms in regulation are underway across WHO Member States to strengthen health workforce quality and sustainability. WHO is convening 2-300 stakeholders at a symposium in December to address these issues;
• Digital education, if properly designed and implemented, can strengthen health workforce capacity by delivering education to remote areas and enabling continuous learning for health workers. WHO is developing guidelines on digital education for health workforce education and training.

Competency Framework for Health Workers’ Education and Training on Antimicrobial Resistance

Development of a Global Competency Framework for UHC

Global Symposium on Health Workforce Accreditation and Regulation

WHO Competency Framework for Health Workers’ Education and Training on Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a major health and socioeconomic threat, with the potential for devastating consequences to the health of millions...

Nurse educator core competencies

The education of health workers, including nurses, is constantly evolving. The appropriate preparation of nurse educators is critical to the development...

Transforming and scaling up health professionals’ education and training

With this publication, WHO issues its first guidelines for ‘Transforming and Scaling up Health Professionals’ Education and Training’....

Midwifery Educator Core Competencies

As the year 2015 comes nearer it is already obvious that in many countries the target for maternal mortality reduction – Millennium Development Goals...

Effective teaching: a guide for educating healthcare providers

This learning package aims to help educators of healthcare providers become more effective teachers. The package is designed for teachers and tutors of...

Framework for action on interprofessional education & collaborative practice

The need to strengthen health systems based on the principles of primary health-care has become one of the most urgent challenges for policymakers, health...

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Strengthening the nursing and midwifery agenda globally

Improving health workforce data and evidence

Understanding the workforce situation through health labour market analysis

Supporting community-based health workers (CHWs)

• WHO (2015) Progress Report on Workforce Education 2013-2015  
• WHO (2014) Midwifery Educator Core Competencies
• WHO midwifery educator core competencies: Adaptation tool
• Midwifery educator core competencies: building capacities of midwifery educators  
• WHO (2011) Transformative scale up of health professional education 
• WHO. Global standards for initial pre-service education of nurses and midwives, 2009
• Global Health Workforce Alliance (2008) Scaling Up, Saving Lives: Task Force for Scaling Up Education and Training for Health Workers
• WHO (2005) Accreditation of medical education institutions, Report of a technical meeting 
• Global Survey on Geriatrics in the Medical Curriculum, 2002
• Defining and Measuring the Social Accountability of Medical Schools. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1995. 

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• Health workforce strengthening [pdf 24kb]  WHA 64.6
• International migration of health personnel: a challenge for health systems in developing countries [pdf 23kb] WHA 57.19

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E-learning and Digital Training in Healthcare Education: Current Trends and New Challenges

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A topical collection in Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This collection belongs to the section " TeleHealth and Digital Healthcare ".

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Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the learning and teaching processes, especially in healthcare education, due to the predominant role of the current student–patient interaction. Worldwide higher education institutions were forced to accelerate the introduction of web-based learning methodologies in areas where that was not the main core, like clinical teaching. This Special Issue is dedicated to the current trends and new challenges that emerge from this new e-learning environment, focusing on its potential to revolutionize healthcare education and exploring how it may help to better prepare the future healthcare professionals for their daily practice.

The Special Issue “E-learning and Digital Training in Healthcare Education: Current Trends and New Challenges” seeks research articles focusing on new insights into the use of interactive and intuitive e-learning tools and innovative teaching methodologies that engage healthcare students in the new web-based environment training. Case studies of ‘pathfinder’ e-learning initiatives and surveys related to the penetration and acceptance of the digital training in healthcare education are also encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Luís Proença Prof. Dr. José João Mendes Dr. João Botelho Dr. Vanessa Machado Guest Editors

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• digital training
• healthcare education
• innovation in teaching
• clinical teaching

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• v.24(3); 2022 Mar

Digital Education for Health Professionals: An Evidence Map, Conceptual Framework, and Research Agenda

Lorainne tudor car.

1 Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

2 Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Selina Poon

3 Centre for Population Health Sciences, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

Bhone Myint Kyaw

David a cook.

4 Office of Applied Scholarship and Education Science, School of Continuous Professional Development, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States

Victoria Ward

5 Department of Pediatrics, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford, CA, United States

6 Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard, Boston, MA, United States

Azeem Majeed

Jamie johnston.

7 Stanford Center for Health Education’s Digital MedIC Initiative, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Rianne M J J van der Kleij

8 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands

Mariam Molokhia

9 School of Population Health and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom

Florian V Wangenheim

10 Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Martin Lupton

11 Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

12 The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea, London, United Kingdom

Niels Chavannes

Onyema ajuebor.

13 Health Workforce Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Charles G Prober

Associated data.

MEDLINE (Ovid) search strategy.

Educational outcomes reported in the included systematic reviews and their definitions.

Characteristics of the included systematic reviews.

Research questions identified in the included systematic reviews.

Overview of conceptual frameworks on the implementation and adoption of digital education.

Health professions education has undergone major changes with the advent and adoption of digital technologies worldwide.

This study aims to map the existing evidence and identify gaps and research priorities to enable robust and relevant research in digital health professions education.

We searched for systematic reviews on the digital education of practicing and student health care professionals. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Educational Research Information Center, CINAHL, and gray literature sources from January 2014 to July 2020. A total of 2 authors independently screened the studies, extracted the data, and synthesized the findings. We outlined the key characteristics of the included reviews, the quality of the evidence they synthesized, and recommendations for future research. We mapped the empirical findings and research recommendations against the newly developed conceptual framework.

We identified 77 eligible systematic reviews. All of them included experimental studies and evaluated the effectiveness of digital education interventions in different health care disciplines or different digital education modalities. Most reviews included studies on various digital education modalities (22/77, 29%), virtual reality (19/77, 25%), and online education (10/77, 13%). Most reviews focused on health professions education in general (36/77, 47%), surgery (13/77, 17%), and nursing (11/77, 14%). The reviews mainly assessed participants’ skills (51/77, 66%) and knowledge (49/77, 64%) and included data from high-income countries (53/77, 69%). Our novel conceptual framework of digital health professions education comprises 6 key domains (context, infrastructure, education, learners, research, and quality improvement) and 16 subdomains. Finally, we identified 61 unique questions for future research in these reviews; these mapped to framework domains of education (29/61, 47% recommendations), context (17/61, 28% recommendations), infrastructure (9/61, 15% recommendations), learners (3/61, 5% recommendations), and research (3/61, 5% recommendations).

Conclusions

We identified a large number of research questions regarding digital education, which collectively reflect a diverse and comprehensive research agenda. Our conceptual framework will help educators and researchers plan, develop, and study digital education. More evidence from low- and middle-income countries is needed.

Introduction

The world is faced with a shortage and an unequal distribution of health workforces across low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries [ 1 ]. The shortfalls and inequitable distributions affect the likelihood of reaching the United Nations’ third Sustainable Development Goal—health and well-being for all by 2030 [ 1 - 5 ]. To enable an increase in and a more equitable distribution of competent health workforce, there is a need for more effective and accessible health professions education.

The use of digital technology in health professions education can help in overcoming some of the health workforce–related challenges by providing more accessible, standardized, relevant, timely, and affordable medical education and training [ 6 , 7 ]. Until recently, digital education was perceived as primarily supporting in-person health professions education [ 8 ]. The social distancing measures introduced to control the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically changed the delivery of health professions education worldwide. Many medical schools and health professions education institutions had to pivot to digital education [ 9 , 10 ]. With this sudden shift, research and evidence in digital health professions education have become even more important.

The evidence on digital education has grown substantially in recent years and has been the subject of many systematic reviews. Existing reviews seem to mostly focus on the effectiveness of different digital education modalities [ 11 - 16 ]. However, the adoption of digital education is complex and includes other research questions, in addition to its effectiveness. It is important to identify evidence that already exists and evidence gaps across the full scope of relevant questions to inform and guide future research and reduce research waste. To address this need, we seek to (1) create a map of existing research, (2) develop a conceptual framework outlining key components of digital education, and (3) highlight specific research questions across a comprehensive research framework. We do this by systematically identifying and analyzing previous systematic reviews on digital health education.

We used an evidence map methodology to identify and summarize systematic reviews on digital health professions education [ 17 ]. We also developed a novel conceptual framework using an established methodological approach [ 18 ] and identified specific research questions in alignment with this conceptual framework.

Study Identification

To identify relevant systematic reviews on different types of digital health education for health professionals, we used a comprehensive search strategy mentioned in Multimedia Appendix 1 , including key terms for participants (eg, health professionals , health personnel , and students ), intervention (eg, e-learning , patient simulation , and serious games ), and article type (eg, systematic reviews and evidence synthesis ). We searched the following major bibliographic databases for studies published between January 1, 2014, and July 21, 2020, without any restrictions on language or study design: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Cochrane Library, Educational Research Information Center (EBSCO), and CINAHL (EBSCO). We also manually checked the reference lists of the included systematic reviews for other potentially relevant systematic reviews on digital education for health professionals. In addition, we searched Google, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and OpenGrey for any other studies that might be relevant for our topic, using keywords systematic review , digital education , health professionals , health professions education , eLearning , and e-learning , and reviewing either the first 10 pages or 500 results.

Eligibility Criteria

We included systematic reviews focusing on digital education for health care professionals in preservice (ie, student) and in-service (ie, postdegree, including postgraduate trainees and those in independent practice) positions [ 19 ]. This includes disciplines such as medicine, dentistry, nursing and midwifery, medical diagnostic and treatment technology, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and pharmacy. Practitioners of traditional, alternative, and complementary medicine were excluded. Digital health professions education refers to health professions education that is conducted using digital technology [ 20 ] and includes modalities ranging from the basic conversion of content into a digital format (eg, a book converted into a PDF or HTML format) to more complex applications such as mobile education, digital games, virtual patients, and virtual reality (VR). Systematic reviews were included if they focused on ≥1 modality of digital education (as defined in Textbox 1 ) delivered in a stand-alone or blended format [ 20 ]. We defined blended education as education that incorporates aspects of traditional and digital education. Traditional education was defined as education that encompasses the use of nondigital educational materials (eg, textbooks or models) or in-person human interactions. We included systematic reviews of all the types of studies. We excluded older reviews because of the rapid evolution of the field, with the assumption that most of the active research questions from the reviews published >5 years ago would be collated in more recent reviews.

Digital education technologies and modalities and working definitions and descriptions.

Offline digital education

• Education delivery requires no internet or local area network connection and can be delivered through external media, including CD-ROM, external hard disk, and USB stick [ 21 ].

Online digital education

• Computer-assisted instruction using the internet or a local intranet as the means of delivery, also referred to as online, internet-based, or networked [ 22 , 23 ], includes multiple media formats (eg, text, videos, and images and online discussion (eg, via email, chat, or videoconferencing) and is designed to be primarily delivered on PCs.

Massive open online course

• A (free) online course available over the internet to a large number of geographically dispersed participants [ 24 ]

Mobile education (m-Learning)

• Flexible and accessible learning delivered via personal mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets [ 25 ]

Serious gaming and gamification

• Knowledge and training activities are set within a competitive activity. Games are intended to promote the development of knowledge, cognitive skills, or psychomotor skills in a virtual environment [ 26 ].

Virtual reality

• Interactive exploration of a digital (3D) multimedia environment can reflect a real-world environment (eg, clinic) or an artificial or surreal context (eg, positioning the learner within the human body) [ 16 , 27 ].

Virtual patient

• A computer program that simulates real-life clinical scenarios where students take on the role of a health professional and obtain a patient’s history, conduct a physical examination, and make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions [ 28 ]

High-fidelity manikins

• Realistic, computerized mannequins that mimic elements of human physiology (eg, breathing and heart rhythm) and are used to simulate a real-life clinical scenario [ 29 ].

Blended education

• The use of digital education modalities in combination with traditional education methods

Traditional education

• Education that uses nondigital educational material (eg, textbook or model) or in-person human interaction

Study Selection

The search results from different databases were combined in a single EndNote library, and duplicate citations were removed. A total of 2 review authors (SP and BMK) screened all titles and abstracts for inclusion independently and in duplicate. Disagreements during the title and abstract screening were resolved by consensus. Full texts of articles considered eligible or uncertain based on the title and abstract screening were retrieved and screened independently and in duplicate by the same 2 authors.

Data Extraction

From the included systematic reviews, 2 authors (SP and BMK) used a standardized form to independently extract information on the review aim; the study design, participants, interventions, comparators, and outcomes of the original research studies included; the method used to appraise the quality of the included studies (eg, risk of bias) or overall evidence (eg, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation assessment); and recommendations for future research. We classified the outcomes according to the definitions presented in Multimedia Appendix 2 . We also extracted information on all additional outcomes reported in the included reviews that did not correspond to our predefined outcome-related definitions. We classified the systematic review in terms of the single digital modality they most focused on, according to our framework ( Textbox 1 ). In most instances, it was clear that a given review focused predominantly on 1 modality. Less often, a review encompassed multiple modalities equally, in which case we classified it as digital education; that is, the use of digital technology in health professions education in general. Finally, we identified recommendations for future research by extracting exact quotes from each review that articulated such recommendations. At every stage, disagreements between the review authors were resolved through discussion and input from the third author (LTC).

Authors SP and BMK rephrased the quoted research recommendations into research questions and then refined these by applying consistent terminology, removing duplicates, and merging or subdividing themes. Questions that focused on specific digital modalities (eg, online modules) were rewritten to make them relevant to the broader research agenda for digital health education. The final list of research questions was refined by LTC.

We developed a conceptual framework outlining various digital health professions’ education components according to the methodology described by Jabareen [ 18 ]. We consulted and built on our previous conceptual work in this area and existing frameworks for the implementation or adoption of digital education generally [ 30 - 39 ]. We identified these frameworks through a focused literature search on PubMed, Google, and Google Scholar. On the basis of the discussions and consensus among the review authors, key domains and subdomains were finalized. The framework and its components were represented diagrammatically. Recommendations for future research were classified according to the proposed framework in parallel by 2 authors (SP and BMK). Discrepancies were resolved through consensus and with the guidance of the third author (LTC). On the basis of the analysis of the included reviews and the observed gaps in the literature, we outline a research agenda for digital health professions education and present it in the Results section.

Search Results

Of 7294 systematic reviews from our initial search, we identified 73 (1%) eligible systematic reviews ( Figure 1 ). Another 4 systematic reviews were identified through Google, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and OpenGrey. In total, 77 systematic reviews were included for data extraction.

Study flow diagram. ERIC: Educational Research Information Center.

The number of published systematic reviews increased over time, from 6% (5/77) published in 2014 to 56% (43/77) published in 2019. The systematic reviews focused on digital education for health professions students (17/77, 22% studies), postgraduate or independently practicing (18/77, 23% studies) health professionals, or both (42/77, 55% studies). Most of the systematic reviews were on digital education in surgery (13/77, 17% studies) or health professions education in general (ie, those not focusing on a particular type of practitioner, health care area, or topic; 36/77, 47% studies), followed by nursing (11/77, 14% studies; Table 1 ; Multimedia Appendix 3 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 109 ]).

Characteristics of the included systematic reviews (N=77).

a HCP: health care professional.

b Includes residents, novices, trainees, and fellows.

c Defined in the included systematic reviews as a combination of skills and behavioral changes as a result of the intervention.

d Includes quasi-randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized controlled trials, before-and-after studies, and interrupted time series designs.

e Includes study designs not described above or a combination of different study designs.

A breakdown of the digital modalities being investigated in the included systematic reviews is shown in Figure 2 . Most systematic reviews focused on digital education in general (22/77, 29%), VR (19/77, 15%), and online education (10/77, 13%). Of the 19 reviews on VR, 17 (89%) were on VR complemented with physical objects or devices such as probes or handles and focused on psychomotor, procedural, or technical skill development. There were fewer reviews published on m-Learning (6/77, 8%), digital game-based learning (3/77, 4%), and virtual patients (2/77, 3%).

The number of systematic reviews on different digital modalities according to the year of publication. m-Learning: mobile learning.

The most common outcomes in the included reviews were health professionals’ knowledge (49/77, 64%), skills (51/77, 66%), attitudes about the clinical topic (13/77, 17%), and satisfaction with digital education (18/77, 23%). Most systematic reviews compared the effectiveness of digital education to traditional education (ie, nondigital; 59/77, 77%) or other forms of digital education (35/77, 45%; Table 1 ). Most reviews reported only immediate, short-term outcomes; 22% (17/77) of reviews reported the impact of digital education on long-term delayed outcomes; that is, outcomes assessed with delay after the intervention [ 34 , 40 - 55 ]. Most reviews appraised methods using the Risk of Bias tool [ 110 ] only (24/77, 31%), followed by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation [ 111 ] (which also includes the risk of bias assessment; 22/77, 29%) and Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument [ 112 ] (10/77, 13%). Of the 77 studies, 9 (12%) reviews did not report on the quality appraisal of the included evidence, whereas the remaining 14 (18%) reviews used different instruments to determine the evidence quality ( Table 1 ; Multimedia Appendix 3 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 107 , 109 ]). The included reviews mostly reported original research to be low or very low quality of evidence or reported unclear or high risk of bias in most studies ( Multimedia Appendix 3 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 107 , 109 ]). Most systematic reviews reported data from high-income countries (14/77, 18% systematic reviews) or both middle- and high-income countries (42/77, 55% systematic reviews). Only 4% (3/77) of the systematic reviews included studies from low-income countries [ 11 , 56 , 57 ]. Approximately 29% (22/77) of the included reviews did not report the setting of the included studies.

Conceptual Framework of Digital Health Professions Education

To outline different aspects of digital health professions education and identify gaps in the literature, we developed a novel conceptual framework ( Figure 3 ) grounded in key findings of these systematic reviews together with 7 existing frameworks for digital education general [ 35 - 39 , 113 - 117 ] and a framework we developed previously for health professions education [ 33 ].

Conceptual framework of digital health education for healthcare professionals. CME: continuing medical education; CPD: continuing professional development; IT: information technology.

Broadly, the fundamental domains include an enabling and supportive context , sound infrastructure, and the optimal use of education tools and processes. The context is a combination of institutional norms, sociocultural norms, and settings in which the learner resides, as well as the level of education the learner is at. Subdomains of the context have a direct impact on the infrastructure components required and available for the delivery of digital education—digital and physical spaces, policies and regulatory standards, and human resources. Both context and infrastructure components are important in consideration of health professions education. Learners , individually and as part of a larger group, are at the core of digital health education, and their needs, preferences, prior expertise, and competencies should shape how education is delivered. The interaction among components within and across each layer is dynamic, with different parts being interconnected, as reflected using dotted lines to separate context, infrastructure, education, and learners. Studying and identifying optimal relationships between the components are handled by the research and quality assurance blocks, which are connected to the rest of the framework. Table 2 provides the detailed operational definitions for each domain of the framework.

Definitions of digital health professions education conceptual framework components.

Research Questions From the Included Systematic Reviews

We identified 318 discrete research questions posed in these 77 articles, from which we distilled a final list of 61 (19.2%) distinct questions covering 14 of the 16 subdomains of the above framework ( Table 2 ; Multimedia Appendix 4 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 95 , 98 - 107 ]). Research questions that spanned multiple subdomains were assigned by investigator consensus to the most relevant single subdomain. None of the included systematic reviews posed questions primarily directed at the physical infrastructure or quality assurance subdomains. We identified 26% (16/61) of questions relating to context, classified into four subdomains: sociocultural norms , institutional norms , settings, and level of education . Approximately 15% (9/61) of research questions (3 per subdomain) were identified for the digital , regulatory, and human resources subdomains within the infrastructure domain. Most of the research questions, 48% (29/61) approximately, were categorized in the education domain, which encompasses modality, instructional design , content , engagement, and evaluation subdomains. Approximately 5% (3/61) of research questions each were categorized in the learners and research domains.

Classifying Research Questions Addressed by Existing Systematic Reviews

We also classified the included systematic reviews based on their research questions and using our conceptual framework ( Table 3 ; Multimedia Appendix 3 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 107 , 109 ]). The research questions addressed by existing systematic reviews mostly revolved around digital education modality (ie, the effectiveness of various digital education modalities delivered as stand-alone or blended interventions) and content (ie, the effectiveness of digital education within a particular health care area or discipline). Some reviews assessed interactivity ( engagement ), various aspects of instructional design in digital education, the impact of digital education on institutional outcomes ( context—institutional norms ), and the impact of setting (eg, low-income and middle-income countries) on learning outcomes.

Research questions identified from the included systematic reviews on health professions digital education.

Principal Findings

We present an evidence map of 77 systematic reviews on digital education for health professionals published between 2014 and July 2020. The reviews mostly focused on the effectiveness of various digital education modalities in surgery, health professions education in general, and nursing. Most reviews have focused on online and offline learning. Only a few reviews focused on other digital education modalities such as m-Learning, VR, digital game–based learning, and virtual patients. We developed a novel conceptual framework outlining key components of digital health professions education, namely context, infrastructure, education, learner, research, and quality assurance. Within these reviews, we identified 61 unique recommendations (questions) for future research, focusing primarily on digital education modality, instructional design, and assessment.

Limitations and Strengths

Our study has some limitations. First, to cover the most recent evidence in the field of digital education for health care professionals, we excluded studies before 2014; earlier reviews might have identified important research questions that remain unanswered. Our focus on systematic reviews also excluded other article types, such as editorials or viewpoints, which might have identified additional research questions. Second, although extraction and classification of research questions were done in duplicate and using a standardized approach, other classifications could be justified in some instances, which implies a degree of imprecision in the reported frequencies of specific questions. Moreover, our method did not allow us to prioritize the numerous research questions; such prioritization would require input from a representative group of experts and could be the focus of a future study. Third, there are overlaps among different concepts specified within this conceptual framework, which could be delineated and presented differently depending on potential chosen emphasis or entry points. Fourth, reviews classified as online education varied substantially in their inclusion of other modalities (eg, some expressly excluded modalities such as virtual patients, digital games, or massive open online courses, whereas others included these and other modalities). Finally, our novel conceptual framework may require revision as our understanding of this field matures and evolves, additional evidence accumulates, and new technologies emerge.

Our study also has several strengths, such as a thorough literature search for relevant studies, encompassing several indexed and gray literature databases without restrictions. We followed an established evidence map methodology and performed the steps in duplicate and independently [ 17 ]. In the development of our conceptual framework, we drew from the existing frameworks, our previous work, and discussions with experts.

Integration With Prior Work

We did not find other frameworks presenting a high-level overview of the use and implementation of digital education for health professionals. Therefore, we drew from the general digital education literature and found several relevant frameworks.( Multimedia Appendix 5 ). The included frameworks, while providing an overview of digital education, often had additional objectives such as exploring the role of specific stakeholders (eg, the private sector or the ministries), identifying barriers to adoption, or analyzing a particular digital education aspect, setting, or configuration [ 33 , 35 - 37 , 113 - 117 ]. Our framework complements other frameworks by pulling together domains previously presented only in isolation and by adding novel subdomains such as the impact of training levels, the role of regulations and accreditations, and the importance of physical infrastructure ( Multimedia Appendix 4 [ 11 - 16 , 32 , 34 , 40 - 95 , 98 - 107 ]).

Several viewpoint articles have offered research agendas for digital health professions education [ 28 , 118 - 120 ]. They focus primarily on the design of interventions and research studies in this field, which correspond to the domains of education (modality, instruction design, assessment, and engagement), research (quality of methods and reporting), and context (setting and level of education) in our framework. The agendas espoused in these viewpoints include questions that probe more narrowly and deeply on specific issues relevant to the design and focus of future studies (eg, the choice of comparison intervention and avoidance of confounding, integration of digital education across different institutions, and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration). Our framework was intentionally broad and comprehensive and enabled us to accommodate a variety of additional questions on previously neglected topics.

Implications for Research and Practice

Most reviews in our evidence map focused on the effectiveness of digital education interventions and rarely addressed issues around their implementation and adoption. These reviews also mostly compared the effectiveness of digital interventions with that of nondigital education. Findings from studies comparing digital and nondigital education have limited generalizability as these studies cannot account for variance within and between these 2 educational formats [ 118 ]. Future research should compare different digital education modalities as such studies are more likely to generate meaningful, generalizable findings. It should also aim to explore potential challenges related to the implementation and adoption of digital education interventions in different settings.

There is also a need for more methodologically robust research and clearer terminology in this field. The quality of the evidence, as reported in the included reviews, was relatively low, with a limited number of studies measuring skills and knowledge retention. Furthermore, it was at times difficult to determine which modality (or modalities) the included reviews focused on because of poorly explained inclusion criteria. Such ambiguity was particularly common in reviews on e-learning and blended, online, and internet-based education.

We also express concerns about the paucity of studies from low- and middle-income countries. Such countries could greatly benefit from digital education, especially by using free or low-cost education (eg, massive open online courses). Although some research findings have a universal application (eg, fundamental principles of effective learning), others (such as implementation, infrastructure, and learners) are more context specific. Given the presence of unique needs of low- and middle-income countries (eg, distinct content priorities, learner demographics, and infrastructure), we urge more research in these contexts.

Our conceptual framework will benefit researchers, funding agencies, and educators, among others. The specific questions identified and classified according to this framework provide a map for future research and can help prioritize original research studies and guide the planning of new or updated systematic reviews. We encourage investigators to broadly consider the questions we identified in this evidence map, especially those specific to areas previously less studied, such as infrastructure, learners, or quality assurance in digital education. Our framework can also be used by funding agencies to better understand the limitations of the existing research and identify areas with limited evidence with the aim of informing their funding calls in this field. Finally, this framework can encourage those developing new courses to anticipate and plan for issues that are important but might be inadvertently overlooked, such as the digital education context, infrastructure, and learners.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding support from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The authors would also like to acknowledge Ms Thai My Linh and Ms Christina Tan En Hui for their help with the validation of the findings, Ms Chong Zhuo En for help with data compilation, and Ms Yasmin Lynda Munro for providing advice on our search strategy. Although this review includes the findings from the systematic reviews published by members of the Digital Health Education Collaboration, all reviews were given equal treatment during the review process conducted for this publication. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this paper and do not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated.

Abbreviations

Multimedia Appendix 1

Multimedia appendix 2, multimedia appendix 3, multimedia appendix 4, multimedia appendix 5.

Authors' Contributions: JC, LTC, and OA conceived the idea for the review. SP and BMK screened the studies, extracted the data, and synthesized the findings. LTC, SP, and BMK wrote the manuscript. JC, DAC, VW, RA, AM, JJ, RMJJvdK, MM, FVW, ML, NC, OA, and CGP provided insightful feedback on the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

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About the Health Education Certificate Program

Upon completion of this certificate program, certificate candidates will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and modify the personal and environmental factors that influence health-related behaviors, and by doing so, impact the overall health of individuals and communities. Upon completion of the core courses of the certificate program, students will gain a broad understanding of health education principles, theories, and strategies, and will achieve the competencies considered central to effective health education.

Educational Objectives

After completing core and elective courses, students will be able to:

• Assess individual and community needs for health education;
• Plan effective health education programs;
• Implement health education programs;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of health education programs;
• Coordinate provisions of health education services;
• Act as a resource person; and
• Communicate health and health education needs, concerns and resources.

Curriculum for the Health Education Certificate Program

Please visit our Academic Catalogue to see the full certificate curriculum requirements. Please also review the certificate completion requirements .

Admissions Requirements

Degree students.

Johns Hopkins University graduate students, with the exception of BSPH MAS students, who are not eligible to apply until they have completed their primary degree program.

Applying to the certificate program as a JHU graduate degree

Students already enrolled in a graduate program at JHU are not required to submit the School's electronic admissions application, but must email the  Certificate Program Contact  prior to starting coursework for the certificate program.

Eligible Start Terms :

1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Non-Degree Students

Students with at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and a strong academic record are eligible for admission to this certificate program. 

Applying to the certificate program as a non-degree applicant

Students who are not currently enrolled in a graduate program at JHU are required to apply to certificate programs using SOPHAS Express . 

Prerequisites or special requirements

Application for Non-Degree Students

Information regarding the cost of tuition and fees can be found on the Bloomberg School's Certificate Programs Tuition page.

Questions about the program? We're happy to help.

Sponsoring Department Health, Behavior and Society

Certificate Program Contact [email protected]

Faculty Sponsor Eileen McDonald  

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Immunization Education & Training

<< Back to Vaccines Home

CDC offers numerous education and training programs for healthcare personnel. A variety of topics and formats are available. All are based on vaccine recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP).

Physicians, nurses, health educators, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals are invited to apply for continuing education credits/contact hours, when available.

Find a list of immunization training and educational materials, including basic and COVID-19-vaccine-specific information.

Series of modules that explain the latest recommendations for vaccine use that include self-test practice questions

Webcasts, and self-study education and training programs for healthcare personnel

A guide and video show how to obtain continuing education credit or print a certificate of attendance

1-hour webinars that explore the chapters of the ‘Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases’ book

Live, 1-hour presentations via conference call including question and answer session

Educational materials that complement personal education and advice for patients

Resources for providers seeking quality improvement projects that may be required for maintenance of certification

Resources and curriculum materials for health professions faculty and institutions

Running Time: 5:07 mins Date Released: 06/27/2011 CDC Commentary – Make No Mistake: Vaccine Administration, Storage, and Handling Dr. Andrew Kroger offers 7 steps to help prevent vaccine administration errors and vaccine storage and handling errors.

A two-day live version of the Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases course can be scheduled for a state or region. These courses are conducted by CDC trainers.

Search using #CDCizlearn for updates on immunization training, news about vaccine storage and handling, links to revised schedules, VISs, pricing lists, guidance, etc.

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• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
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• CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.

Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care

Address racial biases and barriers. improve equality in health care..

In partnership with the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, this course will help you deliver high-quality health care to all through organizational change.

What You'll Learn

What is inequality in health care? What does social justice in health care look like? Does your organization address racial equity and access to care? Is diversity, bias, and inclusion a common conversation or evaluation to improve delivery? How do you address these topics with your leadership and board members?

Racial disparity in the United States health care industry isn’t a new topic; for decades researchers have focused on quality of care, access, and safety of people of color versus their white counterparts. While in recent years quality and access has improved in the U.S. thanks to initiatives like the Affordable Care Act, there is still a gap in the quality of care different groups receive. It’s vital to continue closing the biases and disparities in health care through education, communication, and action. 

In Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care, you will not only examine the disparities that exist when serving a diverse population, but also approach each inequity head-on to learn more about the causes and how to eliminate these issues. By focusing on data collection and performance measurements unique to your organization, you will identify how core issues in care quality of ethnic and racial minority groups, which are often multifactorial in nature, contribute to poorer health outcomes, lead to higher costs, and exemplify low-value health care.

Offered in conjunction with the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) , this health equity course will use real-world examples, case studies, and insights from leaders in the field to help you understand the history of racism in health care and digest the latest in understanding racial disparities in health care—allowing you to create strategic approaches that you can apply to your organization. Beyond dei training for health care professions, this course will help ou will learn how to harness and analyze data, visualize and communicate the results, and use feedback from stakeholders to begin closing the gap.

Remove racial biases and barriers. Improve equality in health care.

The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 22 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will have access to claim their credits through the Harvard Medical School’s continuing education platform. 

The course is part of the Health Care Leadership Learning Path will be delivered via  HBS Online’s course platform .  Learners will be immersed in real-world examples from experts at industry-leading organizations. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the causes of systemic racism in health care that are grounded in historical instances of segregation to better understand why health equity is important
• Use the Kotter method to identify organizational gaps and needs, create a vision for change, and implement an executable strategy to close disparities
• Learn how to collect and analyze data unique to underserved populations to inform organizational change
• Gain greater knowledge regarding how continued inequality affects overall quality and cost of care
• Create a vision to obtain stakeholder buy-in and a strategic framework to implement solutions leading to high-value equitable health care

Your Instructors

Joseph Betancourt , MD, MPH (he/him/his),  is the newly appointed President of the Commonwealth Fund, becoming one of the first Latino heads of a national health care foundation. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He was the founder of the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at MGH, Faculty at the Mongan Institute, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and he continues as a practicing Internal Medicine physician. He is the current chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association and sits in its Board of Trustees. He was inaugural incumbent of the Sumner M. Redstone Endowed Chair in Health Equity. Dr. Betancourt is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy, health care disparities, diversity, and cross-cultural medicine.

Aswita Tan-McGrory , MBA, MSPH (she/her/hers) is the Director of the Disparities Solutions Center and the Director of Equity in Care Implementation at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the Disparities Solutions Center she leads the mission to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care and oversees the Disparities Leadership Program. As Director of Equity in Care Implementation she provides leadership for assuring equity in access to, and delivery of clinical care, specifically related to the “Doorstep to Bedside” approach of assessing the care delivery continuum at Massachusetts General Hospital. Ms. Tan-McGrory is a subject matter expert and public speaker, and travels across the country to speak to organizations about how race, ethnicity, and language impact the quality of care.

Real World Case Studies

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Mitchell Kellaway

Mitchell Kellaway is the Program Manager for Data Accuracy within the Health Equity team of the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Office of the Chief Medical Officer. His work will help illuminate best practices for measuring, monitoring, and reporting on race, ethnicity, and language preferences (REaL) data.

Alvin Powell, MD

Dr. Alvin Powell is the Vice President of Clinical Care, Health Equity at Cone Health in North Carolina. His case study will help you understand how structural racism and discrimination (SRD) has shaped the health care system and what organizations can do to acknowledge past harms.

Altaf Saadi, MD

Dr. Altaf Saadi is  the Associate Director at the Mass General Asylum Clinic and Principal Investigator for the Neurodisparities and Health Justice Lab at MGH. She will help you look ahead to emerging topics in health care disparity and prepare your organization to better serve immigrant populations.

Available Discounts and Benefits for Groups and Individuals

Experience Harvard Online by utilizing our wide variety of discount programs for individuals and groups. 

Past participant discounts.

Learners who have enrolled in at least one qualifying Harvard Online program hosted on the HBS Online platform are eligible to receive a 30% discount on this course, regardless of completion or certificate status in the first purchased program. Past Participant Discounts are automatically applied to the Program Fee upon time of payment.  Learn more here .

Learners who have earned a verified certificate for a HarvardX course hosted on the  edX platform  are eligible to receive a 30% discount on this course using a discount code. Discounts are not available after you've submitted payment, so if you think you are eligible for a discount on a registration, please check your email for a code or contact us .

Nonprofit, Government, Military, and Education Discounts

For this course we offer a 30% discount for learners who work in the nonprofit, government, military, or education fields. 

Eligibility is determined by a prospective learner’s email address, ending in .org, .gov, .mil, or .edu. Interested learners can apply below for the discount and, if eligible, will receive a promo code to enter when completing payment information to enroll in a Harvard Online program. Click here to apply for these discounts.

Gather your team to experience Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care and other Harvard Online courses to enjoy the benefits of learning together: 

• Single invoicing for groups of 10 or more
• Tiered discounts and pricing available with up to 50% off
• Growth reports on your team's progress
• Flexible course and partnership plans 

Learn more and enroll your team ! 

Who Will Benefit

Health Care Executives

High-level administrative leaders who will benefit from better understanding the disparities and gaps in health care delivery within their organizations, and how to create a strategic solution to deliver more equitable care.

Equity Officers and Administrative Leaders

Officers and leaders who want to create, fund, and support diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and initiatives in their organizations.

Rising Health Care Professionals

Focused on the next generation of health care professionals who will benefit from starting their career with an eye toward equitable and inclusive health care.

Learner Experience

“I think this course should be a requirement for all people who work in the health care industry, from environmental service folks to CEOs. This information is imperative to break down the boundaries of disparity that currently exist. The course uses evidence-based approaches to better understand how our system currently operates. Using such data, as well as testimonials from people working to create change, we can develop a better appreciation of how to make a difference.”

Rae Nathanson Occupational Therapist, New York Presbyterian Hospital

The majority of Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care learners who participated in our post-course survey report: 

• They can immediately apply their learnings to upcoming projects or projects that they are currently working on.
• They are likely to recommend this course to a colleague or friend.   

“This is an eye opening essential learning for all people working in health care. It is essential to understand what lies beneath the surface of our current systems and how they are stacked against certain populations.”

Christy Director of Health Equity

“This course opened my eyes to issues I had not thought about. I have an awareness of racial issues but have not experienced the challenges faced by many people in health care. The course made me think about these challenges, and in particular, how they apply in my organization. It also made me aware of the growing challenges in the industry.”

Course Participant

Syllabus and Upcoming Calendars

Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care is a health equity course introduces strategies that advance policy and practice to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The course begins with understanding our history (Module 1), followed by learning about the foundations of this type of work (Modules 2 through 4), and ending with an examination of emerging topics (Module 5).

Online Course requirements: There are no prerequisites needed to take this online course. In order to earn a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Online, participants must thoughtfully complete all 5 modules, including satisfactory completion of the associated quizzes, by stated deadlines.

Download Full Syllabus

Download July 2024 Calendar

Download October 2024 Calendar

• Understand how structural racism and discrimination (SRD) has intentionally shaped the U.S. health care system.
• Identify how Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) explain current disparities in health care.
• Perform a 5 Whys Analysis.
• Describe how SDOH and SRD impact disparities in your field.
• Create a plan to listen to the communities your organization serves.
• Understand how Nemours Children’s Hospital Delaware , Tufts Health Plan , and Mass General Brigham (MGB) applied the 8-Step Kotter Model .
• Learn how to use the Kotter Model for leading organizational change.
• Perform an organizational assessment using the Kotter Model.
• Use your assessment to create an action plan that will initiate and sustain change.
• Analyze MGB’s best practices and guidelines for implementing standardized data collection.
• Recognize the importance of gathering race, ethnicity, and language preference (REaL) data.
• Understand minimum standards for the collection of REaL data.
• Learn the inherent problems of collecting REaL data and devise solutions for addressing these challenges.
•  Develop a plan for REaL data collection using the Plan-Do- Study-Act (PDSA) cycle.
• Create a process map to understand your organization’s current data collection process.
• Recognize the importance of measuring and monitoring data.
• Assess what tools are needed to measure, monitor, and report on your data.
• Understand how data can inform action.
• Foresee challenges to monitoring disparities and prepare solutions to address these challenges.
• Identify disparities in your organization.
• Develop steps to address the identified disparities.
• Acknowledge the importance of examining immigrant health disparities as part of the dialogue on eliminating disparities in health care.
• Understand a framework for improving health care for immigrant populations.
• Use the toolkit developed with Massachusetts General Hospital faculty to welcome and protect immigrants in health care settings.
• Explore the possibilities of virtual care.
• Consider health care pathways for patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
• Formulate steps to address access to virtual care for LEP patients at your organization.

Earn Your Certificate

Enroll today in Harvard Online's Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care course.

Still Have Questions?

Are there discounts available? What are the learning requirements? How do I list my certificate on my resume? Learn the answers to these and more in our FAQs.

Explore and connect with articles, webinars, and more.

Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care

A discussion with health care leaders, moderated by Aswita Tan-McGrory, Director of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Aswita Tan-McGrory Examines Why Disparities Exist in Health Care Systems

While quality and access to health care in the U.S. has been improving in recent years, there’s still significant work to do. Aswita Tan-McGrory is one of the leaders at the helm of this transformative work.

Best Continuing Education Courses for Health Care Professionals

In order to help you take the next step in your professional development, we have compiled a list of our top professional development courses for health care professionals.

Related Courses

Digital health.

Digital technologies and big data offer tremendous opportunities to improve health care.

Health Care Strategy

Learn from HBS Professor Leemore Dafny how to align the principles of business strategy with the unique challenges and structures of health care organizations to capture value, define your mission, and lead your organization to success.

Health Care Economics

Taught by Harvard Medical School faculty, this course provides insights into the interactions between industries in the US health care sector and teaches what economic forces are shaping health care.

Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) Training

Gritman offers the Palouse’s only Certified Nursing Assistant program, where all training is led by Registered Nurses. Gritman’s CNA program has steadily grown from 20 students each year to more than 70 due to the popularity of our RN-led courses and the area’s high demand for trained caregivers. Area hospitals and care centers rely on Gritman to help train high-tech care with a compassionate touch.

The Certified Nursing Assistant Program is an eight week session hybrid course consisting of regular classes, self study through our online program and clinical hours completed at Gritman Medical Center, Aspen Park and Good Samaritan Society. This course is ideal for individuals looking to begin a career in the healthcare field and those who wish to go on to nursing school or other health related careers.

Classes will include weekday and weekend sessions. It is important for applicants to review the proposed schedule and be available for all class times.

**These classes fill up fast. If you would like to apply, please start Part 1 of the application process by filling out this form , and call  208-883-2224 to pay for your $60 background check. Email us  [email protected] for our most up-to-date schedule of classes. We will set up an appointment to meet with you to discuss paperwork and answer any additional questions you may have.

You may turn in an application as early as you wish. There are several sessions of this course throughout the calendar year. Thank you for your consideration.

Required Course Fees

Non-refundable criminal background check of $60 is required with application to be considered for admission into the program.

Course fee: $1,700 (includes the course fee, textbook, and Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers training). There is an additional $60 fee for a criminal background check due with application. Registration is not final until student has been issued an acceptance email and until all fees have been paid. Once fees are paid, they are non-refundable for any reason.

Entrance into the CNA program is competitive and requires an application and interview process.

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Idaho WWAMI

• View the Curriculum
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WWAMI Idaho Offices

Foundations at the university of idaho.

Idaho WWAMI 1st & 2nd Year

Physical Address: 121 W. Sweet Avenue Moscow, ID 83844-4061

Anatomy Lab 803 S. Main Street Moscow, ID 83843

Jeff Seegmiller, Ed.D., Director [email protected]

Christine DePriest, Administrative Specialist [email protected]

Phone: 208-885-6696

Fax: 208-885-7910

Email: [email protected]

Web: WWAMI Medical Education Program

Clinical Phase – Boise

Idaho WWAMI Clinical & Explore and Focus Phase

Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program 322 E. Front Street, Suite 462 Boise, ID 83702

Phone: 208-364-4544 Fax: 208-334-2344 Email:  [email protected] Web: Idaho WWAMI Clinical Office

Mary Barinaga, M.D. Assistant Clinical Dean of Regional Affairs Idaho TRUST Co-Director [email protected] 208-364-4548

Frank Batcha, M.D. Assistant Clinical Dean of Regional Affairs Idaho TRUST Co-Director [email protected] 208-364-4546

Sarah Keshian Program Operations Administrator [email protected] 208-364-4546

Eden J Roberts Program Operations Specialist [email protected] 208-364-4544

Lydia Carbis Medical Student Service Coordinator [email protected] [email protected] 208-422-1000 Ext 7642 208-332-4414

TRUST Scholars

Preparing students for future practice in underserved rural areas.

Project ECHO Idaho

A telementoring program for Idaho’s healthcare community.

North Idaho AHEC

Uniting academic programs and regional health needs.

Help Support Idaho WWAMI Students

Rural Emergency Training

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Healthcare Exploration Workshop

Diverse Careers Unveiled in Idaho Healthcare Event

Idaho WWAMI is a partnership between the nationally-ranked University of Washington School of Medicine and Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI). Since 1972, the University of Idaho has partnered with the UW School of Medicine to help educate and provide training for Idaho’s future physicians.

Idaho WWAMI students - all considered Idaho residents - begin their training at the University of Idaho, where they will complete the first 18 months of curriculum, also known as the Foundations Phase. Students then move into the Clinical Phase, where they participate in required clinical experiences. These experiences can be based primarily out of Idaho, are offered in urban and/or rural settings, and/or across the WWAMI region, depending on the student's interests.

The curriculum taught at each WWAMI site, is a joint product of the UW School of Medicine. While each site has its own instructors and may offering specific electives, (such as wilderness medicine offered to Idaho students), all WWAMI students learn the same core curriculum at the same time.

Idaho WWAMI has five primary goals for the State of Idaho:

• Provide publicly supported medical education
• Increase the number of primary care physicians 
• Provide community-based medical education
• Expand graduate medical education (residency training) and continuing medical education
• Provide all of this in a cost-effective manner

Idaho WWAMI has an excellent rate of return: 51% of our graduates choose to practice in Idaho — well above the national average of 39%.

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Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Prepare yourself for employment opportunities as a nursing assistant in extended care facilities, hospitals, home health and hospice situations. This course meets the requirements for Idaho certification of nursing assistants. Clinical hours may be outside normal class hours, but students will be provided clinical dates at least one month in advance. This is a time intensive course. Please consider other commitments and use discretion before registering for the course.

In alignment with state requirements, students are required to attend 100% of the course to complete the program successfully. Clinical facilities may require proof of COVID vaccinations prior to clinical rotations. 

CNA courses are available with several options:

12 Week–Daytime class: meets 6 hours/session; twice/week 14 Week–Evening class: meets 5 hours/session; twice/week 16 Week– Web Supplemented Daytime class: meets 6 hours/ skills session; meets every other week 20 Week–Daytime class meets 3 hours/session; twice/week; (allows student more time for learning and skill mastery.)

Note: BACKGROUND CHECK/Drug Screening

ISU does not generally perform background checks or drug screening in the CNA program, except in our State Hospital South Course, where both are required. If you have a criminal history that will prevent you from passing a background check you may want to reconsider taking this course as you will not be able to work as a CNA.  Please refer to the Idaho Criminal History Unit website at https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/bcu . See ‘denials.’ Once course has begun, you will be ineligible for reimbursement or transfer of course fees . If we are informed of a past crime or positive drug screen during the course, we must inform the clinical agency and allow them to decide if the student can rotate. If denied clinical, the student will be unable to finish the course.

This course meets the following requirements for Idaho registration of nursing assistants:

1) 88 hours of classroom instruction (including discussion, videos, hands-on lab experiences)

2) 32 hours clinical experience in health care facilities

3) Guidance preparing for manual skills testing and written exam as required by the State of Idaho for placement on state registry.

Additional costs include:  Textbooks, BLS Healthcare Provider CPR training , clinical attire, clinical tools and immunizations.  Clinical hours may be outside normal class hours, but student will be provided clinical dates at least one month in advance. In alignment with state requirements, students are required to attend 100% of the course to complete the program successfully.

Please see registration handout for more information.

Accreditation:

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Board of Nursing, Idaho Division of Career Technical Education

Computer requirements:

A computer and hard drive with adequate memory, high-speed Internet access, up-to-date internet browser, basic Microsoft package (Word), Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Options

INDEX-NO: 1955 - 01

Instructor: Alexandra Price

Date: 08/06/2024 - 12/12/2024

Contact Hours: 120.00

Price: $800.00

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) (1955 - 01)

Time: 09:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Days: - - T - T - - - - T - T - -

INDEX-NO: 1955 - 02

Instructor: Janet-Marie Bagniewski

Date: 08/13/2024 - 10/29/2024

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) (1955 - 02)

Time: 01:00 p.m. - 06:00 p.m.

Days: - - T - T - - - - T - T - - - - T - T - -

INDEX-NO: 1955 - 03

Instructors: Alexandra Price, Andrew Christensen

Date: 09/09/2024 - 11/25/2024

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) (1955 - 03)

Instructor: Alexandra Price Instructor: Andrew Christensen

Time: 09:00 a.m. - 03:00 p.m.

Days: - M - W - - - - M - W - - -