How can we use distance education to teach medicine in conflict-affected countries?

Abstract

Rates of global conflict have increased by over 40% from 2020 to 2023, increasing the demands on healthcare systems and impacting healthcare training, education and workforce. There is a need for innovative educational support from the international community. Distance education is a sustainable avenue that is not as contingent on travel, political, or financial restrictions. We sought to undertake a preliminary scoping exercise of the issues involved in delivering distance medical teaching to conflict zones, by reviewing examples in the literature and interviewing key stakeholders in this field. We found that there was need and scope to deliver specific, case-based, non-practical teaching, and to re-connect medical personnel with the international community and research. We propose recommendations to achieve this: directing purpose according to learner needs, evaluations and care outcomes; maintaining patient confidentiality and anonymity; supplementing, rather than undermining, existing educational infrastructures; co-ordinating with relevant stakeholders and expatriates, whilst maintaining neutrality; and consider the use of pre-existing, low-cost online scripts and social media platforms, as well as non-live, low-bandwidth modes of technology.