Designing a disruptive technology model for a medical education program

Abstract

Purpose – Medical Education has been evolving over the years. Since most medical practitioners are in-service, they find little time to dislocate themselves from their day-to-day work for face-to-face training programs. The changes in health and disease,  and advancement in health care both in diagnostics and management make it essential that all the practitioners undergo regular medical education courses to keep themselves updated which include both knowledges as well as skills. There is also an increasing public awareness of the patient’s rights, medico-legal problems associated with errors in medical practice, and medical negligence, hence it is important that medical training should be first conducted through simulations and virtual patients rather than on actual patients.
Design/Methodology/Approach – A review of the available literature was done to design a two-credit practical program on the Assessment and Management of Respiratory System For the Post Graduate Diploma in Geriatric Medicine Programme of IGNOU by incorporating VR, AR, and AI on three aspects of open and distance learning -  self-learning materials, learner support system and measuring the achievement of learning outcomes.
Findings – A review of the literature revealed that although newer technologies like AI, AR, VR, ML, etc are increasingly being used in health care and education, their use in Continuing Medical Education through the Open And Distance Education Mode is not being extensively used.
Originality/value – IGNOU was the first university to launch a Post Graduate Medical Education Programme through open and distance modes for Continuing Education for doctors. Various models for delivering the practical component have been prepared and experimented with. As newer technologies are increasingly being used in the field of education, this study proposes a model for a two-credit program as a prototype for the CME for a medical program