Centre for Health Professions Education

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Browsing Centre for Health Professions Education by Subject "Ambulatory medical care -- South Africa"

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    A retrospective content analysis of the ambulance emergency assistant refresher course outcomes as covered by free open access medical education (FOAMED) resources
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Steyn, Judy; Van Schalkwyk, Susan Camille; Keiller, Lianne; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Centre for Health Professions Education.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Continuous professional development (CPD) is a requirement for all healthcare professionals in South Africa. The shift-driven work environment of pre-hospital care often makes attending CPD events logistically impractical to practitioners. Free open access medical education (FOAMed) and online learning could make CPD activities more accessible. The objective of the study presented in this report, was to determine to what extent available FOAMed resources could be used to supplement the outcomes for successful completion of the AEA-refresher course. A retrospective content analysis methodology was adopted to review FOAMed resources posted within a 2-month period for their ability to cover the outcomes of the AEA-refresher course. Data was subject to a three-step process of content analysis that was matched to 17 identified AEA-refresher course outcomes (themes). The FOAMed resources (qualitative data) matched to the course outcomes were converted into quantitative data (the frequency of the themes). A total of 441 FOAMed posts were reviewed during a 2-month period. Of the 441 posts, 61% (269) were excluded based on inclusion criteria related to the AEA practitioner’s capabilities and relevance. Thus, the remaining 39% (172) FOAMed posts were relevant to cover the 17 identified outcomes of the AEA-refresher course. The two most frequently observed themes were related to [i] professionalism with 45 (26.2%) posts and [ii] general other medical emergencies with 39 (22.7%) of the 172 posts. The remaining 15 themes all had up to 8% representation respectively. The study has highlighted the potential of FOAMed resources to supplement the delivery of CPD activities, like the AEA-refresher course. However, given that the outcomes were unequally represented, educational institutions wishing to make use of FOAMed to supplement delivery of CPD events should be aware of the affordances that FOAMed can offer with due caution given to the residual critiques and limitations of FOAMed.