(The shift to) online delivery of a rural faculty development program in research skills: lessons learned

BMC Primary Care

Research

Jonathan Price¹  Andrew Graham¹  Shabnam Asghari²  Hensley Hubert Mariathas²  Nahid Rahimipour Anaraki²  Cheri Bethune³  Wendy Graham⁴ 

[1] Center for Rural Health Studies, Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Building, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 300 Prince Philip Drive, St. John’s, NL, Canada;Center for Rural Health Studies, Faculty of Medicine Building, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 300 Prince Philip Drive, St. John’s, NL, Canada;Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Building, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 300 Prince Philip Drive, St. John’s, NL, Canada;Discipline of Family Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, PO Box 250, Port aux Basques, NL, Canada;

关键词: Rural research;    Faculty development;    Research skills;    Program delivery;    Program administration;    Virtual delivery model;    Capacity building;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12875-022-01943-0

 received in 2022-07-28, accepted in 2022-12-05,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWhile rural physicians are the ideal candidates to investigate health and healthcare issues in rural communities, they often lack the required skills, competencies, and resources. As a result, research skills development programs are crucial to help ensure communities receive the quality of care they deserve. Memorial University of Newfoundland created a research skills development program called 6for6 to empower and enable rural physicians to research solutions to community-specific health needs. 6for6 program delivery was exclusively in-person until 2019. However, with limitations introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations around the globe needed to respond quickly. As we work to return to a post-pandemic environment, program administrators and educators worldwide are unsure whether to retain or remove the changes made to programs to adapt to the pandemic restrictions. Therefore, this work addresses the impact of the online delivery model in two areas: 1) attainment of competencies (specifically research skills, knowledge, and attitudes); and 2) participant experiences, defined as the ease of attendance, the capacity to interact with team members and peers, and challenges or barriers associated with navigating program resources.MethodsWe compared the effect of an online delivery model pivoted to adapt pandemic restrictions with the original model (primarily face-to-face) on the acquisition of learning competencies and participant experience using a mixed-methods study. Various data collection methods, such as a pre-post program survey, post-program focus group, and structured observation, were utilized.ResultsFrom 2014 to 2021, 35 physicians attended the program (30 face-to-face and five online). The Wilcoxon-sign-rank test did not show any significant differences in the participants’ median change of research competency scores who attended face-to-face and online learning, respectively: knowledge (32.6, 26.8), attitudes (3.8, 3.5), and skills (32.4, 20.0). Flexibility and accessibility were key aspects of participants’ experiences during the online model. Comparison with previous years demonstrated no significant challenges with the virtual delivery model, yet participants struggled with mentorship challenges and learning-life balance.ConclusionsAlthough presenting some unique challenges, the online model did not negatively affect learner competencies. Likewise, it provided opportunities for rural physicians to attend learning sessions and interact with experts and peers while remaining in their communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022