The design, implementation and administration of an educational website for emergency medicine registrars in Australia

Authors

Bryan
Sheila

Theme

Postgraduate Education

INSTITUTION

Monash Health

Background

Monash Health is hospital network in Melbourne, Australia. Within the network there are three Emergency Departments with a combined annual attendance of >150,000 acute presentations. The network is accredited for basic and advanced training by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM). Emergency Medicine training in Australasia comprises the following requirements

  • a minimum of 5 years of supervised training
  • a Primary (basic sciences) and Fellowship (exit) exam
  • a research requirement
  • supervised rotations through Emergency Medicine
  • supervised rotations in critical care units and paediatrics

Within the network there are 68 trainees. Tracking and communicating with the trainees is challenging due to the multiple work sites as well as shift work.

Formal education is formally provided during a five hour training session which is held once a week.

Training modalities include:

  • procedural skills training
  • simulation
  • lectures
  • journal club
  • case based discussions
  • preparation courses for the Primary and Fellowship Examinations

In order to coordinate a diverse group of trainees to a range of teaching sessions there was a need for a communication strategy. The communication needed to be up to date and accessible. A number of different modalities were trialed including email groups as well as Yahoo GroupsTM and Google DocsTM.

Despite this there was constant feedback from the tutors and the trainees that communication was a major source of dissatisfaction.
A website was considered to be the best option but amongst the group there was no website development expertise and there was no option for paying for a developer.

This paper outlines the use of an online website creation tool and the process involved in the introduction of the website to the group of educators.

The website http://www.monashemergency.com  is constantly being developed and is well received by trainees and educators.

 

 

Summary of Work

The Implementation Process

The web site was developed using an online package developed by Weebly.comTM http://www.weebly.com/about/

WeeblyTM was selected based on positive on-line reviews and ease of use.

The framework and basic layout for the site was developed and introduced to the key stake holders.

Following agreement from the medical executive that a self-administered website was feasible, a meeting was called to address the issues identified below.

 

Issues addressed

Role/purpose   

·     To facilitate the provision of medical education to ED trainees

Site Design

Name of site

·  Monashemergency.com

Design

·  Theme

Membership / Involvement

·     Teaching groups

Timetables

Lecture material

Pre reading

Online learning

Online assessment

 

·     Other members of ED team

Toxicology

Research - Link to own site

Pediatrics - Link to own site

Nursing - Link to own site

Allied health - Link to own site

Governance

·     Network involvement

·  TOR for governing group

Security

·  Password protected areas

·  Password protected documents

Confidentiality

·     Use of patient material

·   Use of images of trainees

Intellectual property

· Consent for use of lecture material

Medical liability

· Disclaimer on all medical information

Associations / conflict of interest

Contacts

       

 

Summary of Results

Product

A functional website is now live and is receiving between 9 and 143 unique visits per day with 9-157 page views per day.

The main page which is linked to the teaching timetables and the 'who's who' pages were the most visited pages last month.

 

Trainee satisfaction

A web based survey was conducted in March. The response rate was 10%.

100% of respondents expressed either satisfied or very satisfied with the site for coordination of education, ease of access and access to teaching material.

Four of the respondents made comments and suggested external links for the site.

All of the suggested links met the criteria for inclusion on the site and the links were therefore incorporated.





Educator involvement

Six out of seven of the primary educators are regularly up-loading material to the site. One of the less involved educators has taken sabbatical leave to further develop the pages related to their area of teaching.

Conclusion

Web based resources are well received by trainees. The development and implementation of a website, with the use of a web based tool, is within the reach of educators with no experience in website design and with minimal ongoing funding.

Take-home Messages

A website is a valuable and easily developed tool for communicating with trainees. It is well received by trainees and educators alike.

Acknowledgement

The WeeblyTM website and it's on-line support service have been instrumental in the successful development of the Monasheducation.com website.

Background
Summary of Work
Summary of Results
Conclusion
Take-home Messages
Acknowledgement
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