Analysis of a Blended, In-Service, Continuing Education Course in a Public Health System: Lessons for Education Providers and Healthcare Managers

Abstract

Introduction: To train pharmacists working in the public health system, the Brazilian Ministry of Health developed a specialization course called Pharmaceutical Service and Access to Medicine Management (PSAMM) between 2010 and 2016. The course was free of charge and used e-learning as its main approach. In the end, 2,500 pharmacists were trained. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an in-service and e-learning course for pharmacists working in a public health system.Materials and Methods: Three workshops involving 67 participants were conducted at the conclusion of the course to analyze the perspective of the PSAMM course's faculty (tutors, regional coordinators, professors, and management committee) and students (pharmacists). Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis and qualitative analysis methods were used.Results and Discussion: The strength dimension had the greatest number of items. The qualitative analysis resulted in six categories: the category “E-learning in continuing education” had the most cited items. Internal elements such as in-service hands-on activities directly related to the professionals' roles, course contents, faculty, and the methods to offer the course (the mixed methods and materials) were positively assessed. Nonetheless, external elements were considered critical for the course's outcomes such as investments in the infrastructure of pharmaceutical services, access to the internet, local managers' support for continuing education and innovation implementation, practice of interprofessional collaboration, and political stability. The continuing education course in the public health system was affected by internal elements such as its project and structure as well as external elements such as the sociopolitical scenario. Continuing education investment must be accompanied by infrastructure investment and coordination of services.

Attending a Blended In-Service Management Training in a Public Health System: Constraints and Opportunities for Pharmacists and Health Services

“…The PSAMM total workload was 375 h, distributed over three main themes, and carried out over 15 months (64 weeks). The curriculum is described in Table 1 [ 16 ]. Students were divided into 31 regional centers located in 17 Brazilian states, where the evaluations and four face-to-face meetings were held.…”

“…It was funded by the MoH as part of the activities of the Brazilian Unified Health System Open University (UNA-SUS, a consortium of universities created by the MoH to meet the training and education needs of the SUS). The course was offered to pharmacists working in the public health system, using e-learning as the main approach [ 16 ].…”

“…It is essential to broadly assess the CE initiatives and their impact on healthcare organizations [ 17 , 18 ], including several methods and points of view. An extensive analysis of the development and implementation of the PSAMM showed that it was affected by internal elements such as its didactic project and support infrastructure and also by external elements such as the sociopolitical scenario in the health system and support from the health services heads [ 16 ]. This study aimed to analyze the impacts of a management training course, perceived by pharmacists, in the context of the Brazilian health system.…”

A Comprehensive Understanding of the Use of e-Learning in Continuing Education: Experiences of Pharmacists in a Public Health System

“…It was free of charge and was aimed at pharmacists working in the SUS, from all geographic regions of the country. 27 , 28 …”

Impact of a Pharmacy Management Course for Pharmacists Working Within Brazil’s Public Health System

“…The course was free of charge and used a blended approach, including e-learning and in-service training activities 11 . The course was offered to pharmacists of all the regions of the country.…”