{"title":"Evaluation of choices and time spent on an open online elective course by undergraduate medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Z Mfeka, A Turner, J E Wolvaardt, D Muganhiri","doi":"10.7196/","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weakness of relying on in-person tuition in higher education. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been a successful addition to higher education. In this study, educators had to replace a planned elective in the medical curriculum with an online option during the pandemic. The roles of the competency framework of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) (Leader and Manager, Health Advocate, Professional, Communicator, Collaborator, Scholar, and Healthcare Practitioner) were used to guide its development. This elective emphasised the non-clinical roles of medical practitioners and was offered in 2020 and 2021.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To describe the choices of third-year medical students and time spent participating in a modified online elective in 2020 and 2021.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, involving the participation of 629 medical students. Data were collected and analysed from three primary sources: registration data from LinkedIn Learning, data from the Foundation for Professional Development, and self-reported estimates by students of the average time spent on selected courses. Data included identification of the associated competency acquired. Data analysis was conducted using Python, version 3.10.11.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The course choices of 629 students were analysed. In 2020 there were 300 participants and in 2021 there were 329. All the students had one compulsory inclusion in the elective (Management and Leadership Short Course for Undergraduate Healthcare Students). Students in both years reported spending the most average time on courses related to clinical knowledge (Healthcare Practitioner), followed by financial literacy and management (Professional), diversity management (Collaborator), and priority actions to identify and/or respond to (Health Advocate). The most popular courses related to the Leader and Manager role were around decision-making in human resources, problem-solving, and managing healthcare teams. Based on the top 10 LinkedIn Learning course selections of both cohorts, there appeared to be a preference for courses that were consistent with the role of medical professionals in practice. The most popular LinkedIn Learning course was The Six Morning Habits of High Performers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Students gravitated toward courses aligned with their role as professional doctors within the HPCSA competency framework. More studies are needed to understand how medical students develop the six non-clinical roles in the HPCSA framework and the effectiveness of MOOCs in a medical curriculum.</p>","PeriodicalId":49576,"journal":{"name":"Samj South African Medical Journal","volume":"114 6b","pages":"e1385"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Samj South African Medical Journal","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7196/","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weakness of relying on in-person tuition in higher education. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been a successful addition to higher education. In this study, educators had to replace a planned elective in the medical curriculum with an online option during the pandemic. The roles of the competency framework of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) (Leader and Manager, Health Advocate, Professional, Communicator, Collaborator, Scholar, and Healthcare Practitioner) were used to guide its development. This elective emphasised the non-clinical roles of medical practitioners and was offered in 2020 and 2021.
Objectives: To describe the choices of third-year medical students and time spent participating in a modified online elective in 2020 and 2021.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, involving the participation of 629 medical students. Data were collected and analysed from three primary sources: registration data from LinkedIn Learning, data from the Foundation for Professional Development, and self-reported estimates by students of the average time spent on selected courses. Data included identification of the associated competency acquired. Data analysis was conducted using Python, version 3.10.11.
Results: The course choices of 629 students were analysed. In 2020 there were 300 participants and in 2021 there were 329. All the students had one compulsory inclusion in the elective (Management and Leadership Short Course for Undergraduate Healthcare Students). Students in both years reported spending the most average time on courses related to clinical knowledge (Healthcare Practitioner), followed by financial literacy and management (Professional), diversity management (Collaborator), and priority actions to identify and/or respond to (Health Advocate). The most popular courses related to the Leader and Manager role were around decision-making in human resources, problem-solving, and managing healthcare teams. Based on the top 10 LinkedIn Learning course selections of both cohorts, there appeared to be a preference for courses that were consistent with the role of medical professionals in practice. The most popular LinkedIn Learning course was The Six Morning Habits of High Performers.
Conclusion: Students gravitated toward courses aligned with their role as professional doctors within the HPCSA competency framework. More studies are needed to understand how medical students develop the six non-clinical roles in the HPCSA framework and the effectiveness of MOOCs in a medical curriculum.
期刊介绍：
The SAMJ is a monthly peer reviewed, internationally indexed, general medical journal. It carries The SAMJ is a monthly, peer-reviewed, internationally indexed, general medical journal publishing leading research impacting clinical care in Africa. The Journal is not limited to articles that have ‘general medical content’, but is intending to capture the spectrum of medical and health sciences, grouped by relevance to the country’s burden of disease. This will include research in the social sciences and economics that is relevant to the medical issues around our burden of disease
The journal carries research articles and letters, editorials, clinical practice and other medical articles and personal opinion, South African health-related news, obituaries, general correspondence, and classified advertisements (refer to the section policies for further information).
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
