JMIR medical education
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JMIR medical education · Jun 2016
Enabling Access to Medical and Health Education in Rwanda Using Mobile Technology: Needs Assessment for the Development of Mobile Medical Educator Apps.
Lack of access to health and medical education resources for doctors in the developing world is a serious global health problem. In Rwanda, with a population of 11 million, there is only one medical school, hence a shortage in well-trained medical staff. The growth of interactive health technologies has played a role in the improvement of health care in developed countries and has offered alternative ways to offer continuous medical education while improving patient's care. However, low and middle-income countries (LMIC) like Rwanda have struggled to implement medical education technologies adapted to local settings in medical practice and continuing education. Developing a user-centered mobile computing approach for medical and health education programs has potential to bring continuous medical education to doctors in rural and urban areas of Rwanda and influence patient care outcomes. ⋯ A user-centered design approach was adopted, starting with a needs assessment with representative end users, which provided recommendations for the development of a mobile medical education app specific to Rwanda. Specific app features were identified through the needs assessment and it was evident that there will be future benefits to ongoing incorporation of user-centered design methods to better inform the software development and improve its usability. Results of the user-centered design reported here can inform other medical education technology developments in LMIC to ensure that technologies developed are usable by all stakeholders.
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JMIR medical education · Sep 2015
Go Where the Students Are: A Comparison of the Use of Social Networking Sites Between Medical Students and Medical Educators.
Medical education has grown beyond the boundaries of the classroom, and social media is seen as the bridge between informal and formal learning as it keeps students highly engaged with educational content outside the classroom. ⋯ Although social media continue to grow, some educators find that they do not offer suitable modes of learning. However, it is important to acknowledge that there are persistent differences in technology adoption and use along gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines; this is often referred to as the "digital divide". The current study shows that students prefer certain posts like quizzes and revision files, while educators are focused on posting videos, articles, and explanatory comments. Medical educators are encouraged to focus on the students in a way to minimize the gap between learners and educators. It will remain our responsibility as educators to focuson the student, use SNSs at their fullest, and integrate them into traditional Web-based management systems and into existingcurricula to best benefit the students.