RLC E-learning project report

On  behalf of RLC Steering committee and espe-elearning.org OLC

It gives us great pleasure  to present to you the final report of the  RLC E-learning project ”Development of a Global e-learning Curriculum in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes for Front Line Health Care Providers in Resource-Limited Countries (RLC)”

This project was conceived following a global survey among members of GPED in which it was concluded that particularly in RLC acces to material for instruction and teaching of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes was limited.

Thanks to the collaboration of many (co-)authors, reviewers and translators a freely and globally accessible E-learning module has been constructed specifically intended for healthcare workers at three levels of care in RLC.

The content, 16 chapters with 24 complimentary vignettes including a large ISPAD chapter on diabetes, is provided simultaneously in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Swahili and Chinese.

Shortage of health workers is recognized as an important obstacle to the achievement of universal health coverage and global access to health services of high quality.

Digital health education has been identified as one of the potential means of addressing these growing challenges at all levels from primary, secondary, and pre- and postgraduate university education to life-long learning and continuous professional development (ref: Car J, et al. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21:e12913.) 

For healthcare workers in tertiary centres there is an important task to reach out to health care workers in  primary and secondary health care centres of their region/country. 

It is the sincere hope that the RLC elearning tool will be of use in classroom teaching or distant learning and possibly in conjunction with e-consultation (Collegium Telemedicus).

A recent visit to various centres in Kenya and Tanzania has made me aware of the applicability  of  the E-learning tool for either classroom teaching (using  small portable miniprojectors*)) or distant learning (Small Private Online Courses (SPOC)).

Stenrvert L.S. Drop MD, PhD