A model for mHealth skills training for clinicians: meeting the future now

Abstract

The impetus for this paper is to bring to the foreground a discussion of the potential for a new model for mHealth skills training for clinicians. The use of mHealth in diagnosing and treating patients is a relatively recent phenomenon, and there is scant evidence of curricula changes to reflect the challenges of integrating mHealth skills into training programs. Too often educational institutions assume that clinicians will either acquire mHealth skills on the job or assume that as digital natives, the students have grown up along with technology and can easily facilitate the transition to professional practice with mobile technologies. However, mHealth is a major technological phenomenon that deserves significant educational reformation and consideration in medical curricula. The need for a new modelChange is rapid and ubiquitous in healthcare and nowhere is this more evident than in deployment of mHealth products and services. This technology-centric industry movement has been described as "a natural, inevitable and necessary evolution" (1) from the expected "point of care" occurring in the clinician's physical location. Medical professionals are increasingly connecting with patients via email, telephone, and webcam, and using these same tools to consult with each other electronically. Moreover, mHealth and related technologies extend the boundaries of healthcare beyond the walls of the physical facility allowing medical professionals to provide quality healthcare services in places that previously were unreachable. For example, doctors without borders located in Niger, Sudan and elsewhere report using the Internet to engage a network of almost 300 experts around the world for assistance with the toughest of clinical cases (2).A

Towards a Digital Health Curriculum for Health Workforce for the African Region

“…This research used the CanMEDs framework [39], education model for equipping health professionals (with a focus on in-service personnel) with mHealth skills [11] and the European Digital Competence Framework [3,40] to discuss the professional competencies required for healthcare personnel / health worker.…”

“…In fact, there are calls to fill the knowledge and skills gaps for health workers using ICT to support healthcare [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. The competency framework is derived from the CanMEDS framework [39], the education model for equipping health professionals with mHealth skills [11], and the European digital competency framework 2.0 [3,40]. Table 4 presents a summary of the proposed knowledge areas and competencies by levels of proficiencies that a DH Worker curriculum for the Africa region should have.…”

“…Academic institutions have continued to have traditional professional curricula without integrated formal coursework or clinical practice specific to using digital technologies for patient care in the professional curricula [11]. However, they lack the multi-professional requirement for a digital health worker skill in the use of digital technology to support healthcare.…”

“…Thus, in their model for preparing health professionals (with clinical knowledge and associated technical skills) to deploy mHealth, Slovensky et al [11] identified the following as required core competencies for a digital health worker; Digital communication skills are provided to acquaint the health worker in the use of various digital communication technologies in a rapidly changing communication environment. Unlike basic communication skills that can be outlined in a simple document, digital communication is a behavioralskill best learned through the application, feedback, and practice[11] and impacts the encounter in an examination room[12].Technology literacy and usage skills are required for the digital health worker to use digital technologies and more so, know when to use technology to support healthcare. Rather than the technologies replacing human function in healthcare, it should complement humans such as in-patient consultation.Deploying telehealth products and services requires a proper understanding of the technology in addition to using technology to manage multiple stakeholders, policies and organizational dynamics.…”

“…In addition, competency in problem-solving includes improving/modifying existing solutions in new problem contexts, troubleshooting complex issues that require ehealth technological innovations or even troubleshooting and fixing problems in the technologies. Unlike the European context where expertise is readily available, in the African context, the responsibility to fix minor failures e.g., destination unreachable due to the unpowered access point in a facility setting may belong to the health worker.Based on the above frameworks' digital health competencies for the health workforce, and Mantas et al[26] recommendation to developing countries to adapt the required knowledge, skills, and competencies with regard to the level of technology; we suggested to bridge such gaps in the skills for the digital health worker in the African region by integrating the competencies from the Education Model Equipping Health Professionals with mHealth Skills[11] and European digital competency framework…”