This field report outlines the goals of providing a blended learning model for an interdisciplinary training program for healthcare professionals who care for children with disabilities. The curriculum blended traditional face-to-face or on-site learning with integrated online interactive instruction. Credit earning and audited graduate level online coursework, community engagement experiences, and on-site training with maternal and child health community engagement opportunities were blended into a cohesive program. The training approach emphasized adult learning principles in different environmental contexts integrating multiple components of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Program. This paper describes the key principles adopted for this blended approach and the accomplishments, challenges, and lessons learned. The discussion offers examples from training content, material gathered through yearly program evaluation, as well as university course evaluations. The lessons learned consider the process and the implications for the role of blended learning in this type of training program with suggestions for future development and adoption by other programs.

BackgroundHealth professions’ education programs are undergoing enormous changes, including increasing use of online and intensive, or time reduced, courses. Although evidence is mounting for online and intensive course formats as separate designs, literature investigating online and intensive formats in health professional education is lacking. The purpose of the study was to compare student outcomes (final grades and course evaluation ratings) for equivalent courses in semester long (15-week) versus intensive (7-week) online formats in graduate health sciences courses.MethodsThis retrospective, observational study compared satisfaction and performance scores of students enrolled in three graduate health sciences programs in a large, urban US university. Descriptive statistics, chi square analysis, and independent t-tests were used to describe student samples and determine differences in student satisfaction and performance.ResultsThe results demonstrated no significant differences for four applicable items on the final student course evaluations (p values range from 0.127 to 1.00) between semester long and intensive course formats. Similarly, student performance scores for final assignment and final grades showed no significant differences (p = 0.35 and 0.690 respectively) between semester long and intensive course formats.ConclusionFindings from this study suggest that 7-week and 15-week online courses can be equally effective with regard to student satisfaction and performance outcomes. While further study is recommended, academic programs should consider intensive online course formats as an alternative to semester long online course formats.

Intensive courses (ICs), or accelerated courses, are gaining popularity in medical and health professions education, particularly as programs adopt e-learning models to negotiate challenges of flexibility, space, cost, and time. In 2014, the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL) at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences began the process of transitioning two online 15-week graduate programs to an IC model. Within a year, a third program also transitioned to this model. A literature review yielded little guidance on the process of transitioning from 15-week, traditional models of delivery to IC models, particularly in online learning environments. Correspondingly, this paper describes the process by which CRL transitioned three online graduate programs to an IC model and details best practices for course design and facilitation resulting from our iterative redesign process. Finally, we present lessons-learned for the benefit of other medical and health professionsʼ programs contemplating similar transitions. Abbreviations: CRL: Department of Clinical Research and Leadership; HSCI: Health Sciences; IC: Intensive course; PD: Program director; QM: Quality Matters

Time and space constraints, large class sizes, competition for clinical internships, and geographic separation between classroom and clinical rotations for student interaction with peers and faculty pose challenges for health professions educational programs. This article presents a model for effectively incorporating technology to overcome these challenges and enhance student engagement and interaction in traditionally face-to-face (FTF) health professions (physical therapy and physician assistant) curricula across learning environments (classroom to clinic). Four faculty members interested in redesigning a course or course unit(s) met with the IMPACT (Instructional Media and Programming to Advance Collaboration and Teaching) Initiative instructional design team. Instructional designers provided education, training, and support to faculty for increased use of technology within courses. Four exemplars using Blackboard, videos, VoiceThread ® , and Twitter ® are described. Themes and "lessons learned" were developed from each of the exemplars. A model emerged for integrating technology into health professions curricula with an emphasis on engaging students in active, realistic, and social learning environments. This model demonstrates how technology can be integrated successfully into traditionally FTF health professions curricula to support learning outcomes essential for practice.

ObjectivesLearning health systems (LHS) integrate knowledge and practice through cycles of continuous quality improvement and learning to increase healthcare quality. LHS have been conceptualised through multiple frameworks and models. Our aim is to identify and describe the requisite individual competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and system competencies (capacities, characteristics and capabilities) described in existing literature in relation to operationalising LHS.MethodsA scoping review was conducted with descriptive and thematic analysis to identify and map competencies of LHS for individuals/patients, health system workers and systems. Articles until April 2020 were included based on a systematic literature search and selection process. Themes were developed using a consensus process until agreement was reached among team members.ResultsEighty-nine articles were included with most studies conducted in the USA (68 articles). The largest number of publications represented competencies at the system level, followed by health system worker competencies. Themes identified at the individual/patient level were knowledge and skills to understand and share information with an established system and the ability to interact with the technology used to collect data. Themes at the health system worker level were skills in evidence-based practice, leadership and teamwork skills, analytical and technological skills required to use a ‘digital ecosystem’, data-science knowledge and skill and self-reflective capacity. Researchers embedded within LHS require a specific set of competencies. Themes identified at the system level were data, infrastructure and standardisation; integration of data and workflow; and culture and climate supporting ongoing learning.ConclusionThe identified individual stakeholder competencies within LHS and the system capabilities of LHS provide a solid base for the further development and evaluation of LHS. International collaboration for stimulating LHS will assist in further establishing the knowledge base for LHS.

For disciplines heavily reliant upon traditional classroom teaching, such as medicine and health sciences, incorporating new learning models may pose challenges for students and faculty. In an effort to innovate curricula, better align courses to required student learning outcomes, and address the call to redesign health professions education, Health Sciences Programs at The George Washington University (GW) embarked on two faculty development initiatives to encourage adoption of online, blended, and technology-enhanced courses. This article describes the Review, Refresh, Revise (R3) program, which relies on the evidenced-based Quality Matters Higher Education rubric, and resources from the Supported Media for Administration and Teaching (SMART) Lab to develop and promote a pedagogical approach to course redesign. It also presents preliminary data evaluating the programs in terms of faculty satisfaction, student satisfaction, learning outcomes, and learner engagement. Data analysis indicates faculty satisfaction with the R3 program and SMART Lab resources, despite faculty concerns regarding the time commitment of R3. It also indicated that both initiatives improved course quality, learning outcomes, and learner engagement. Analysis indicates student satisfaction with course revisions in online and technology-enhanced courses, although student satisfaction in the first fully blended course varied, particularly with regard to whether students found the use of technology engaging or essential to learning. Further research is required to understand student responses to blended learning in health sciences.

This article discusses a learning partnership among faculty and students to influence reflective practice in a blended course. Faculty redesigned a traditional face-to-face (FTF) introductory physician assistant course into a blended course to promote increased reflection and higher order thinking. Early student reflective writing suggested a need for learner familiarization with levels of learning, types of reflection, and levels of reflective practice and for revision of writing prompts to encourage greater depth and breadth of reflection. This article presents results from an analysis of students' writings prior to and after the learning intervention and revision of writing prompts. Writings from Week 1 and Week 8 of the course were analyzed for level of reflective practice, depth and breadth of reflection, and depth of higher order thinking. Results indicate an increase in level, depth, and breadth of reflection post-intervention. Results also indicate an increase in occurrences in higher order thinking post-intervention. Findings suggest that purposive course design, combined with instruction on reflection and appropriate reflective prompts, can influence breadth and depth of reflection and higher order thinking in a blended course.

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