Delhi: E-learning is an effective, time-efficient and flexible way of offering training to healthcare professionals. It makes learning more accessible and also provides additional benefits in terms of staying up to date, managing compliance and offering continuous professional development.

While e-learning has always been of seminal importance, the global COVID-19 pandemic rapidly brought to the foreground an even more pressing need for it. As healthcare workers across the world were applauded and appreciated for their brave efforts during this time, it also became important to assist them with concrete and accessible tools to upskill.

Organisations like BMJ have been at the forefront in curating holistic educational e-learning courses that are a complete learning package for clinicians who are keen to enhance their clinical practice and upgrade their knowledge, but face a paucity of time. BMJ is one of the world’s leading providers of medical knowledge and education and is known around the world for the quality of its content. BMJ is the publisher of The BMJ, The British Medical Journal, which is a high impact medical research journal and one of the world’s oldest general medical journals.

BMJ India’s courses are aimed at helping healthcare professionals make better clinical decisions on a daily basis. Integrating the latest medical evidence into easily-accessible versions, the courses are a preferred choice among clinicians who wish to upskill in order to provide better care to their patients. Most importantly, the courses are a blessing for busy professionals since they can be accessed anytime, anywhere and on-the-go. They are also the right blend of high international editorial standards and Indian-subcontinent context and are a perfect fit for clinicians who are unsure whether the course content is evidence based and peer reviewed, unlike most of the other courses. The courses hold immense credibility considering they are from one of the world’s most cited general medical journals like The BMJ with a robust reputation and respect.

Currently, BMJ India’s repertoire includes six courses. The organisation launched their first course in Diabetes in 2016 followed by courses in Chronic Kidney Disease, Palliative Care, Research to Publication, Acute Coronary Syndrome and Common Respiratory Conditions. Each of the courses hold great importance for healthcare professionals especially in the Indian context considering some alarming statistics.

For instance, India has the highest burden of Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) in the world. Similarly, respiratory diseases are the most common diseases for which patients visit doctors in India. BMJ’s Research to Publication is a research methodology and publishing programme specifically designed for doctors and healthcare researchers in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). This is the only research course to combine the expertise of a high impact publisher with a world-class university.

Behind the success of these courses lies the trust and reputation of brands like BMJ, Fortis CDOC, Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) and Royal College of Physicians, London. The courses have varied durations ranging from 3 months to 6 months and boast of multi-pronged features as they are authored by top doctors, are evidence-based, user friendly, and peer reviewed. They are suitable for MBBS doctors and General Physicians. Some of the courses are for researchers, other healthcare professionals, nurses, consultants, healthcare assistants, NGO workers, and volunteers as well. The paid courses involve online evaluation and then certification upon successful completion of the course.

Speaking about the courses, Mr. Prashant Mishra, MD, BMJ India & South Asia said, “E-learning has massive potential to support capacity building among the healthcare workforce in different contexts. The power of e-learning became even more evident amidst the challenges faced by healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 situation. Our courses aim at empowering physicians and health workers to take charge of their own competency development and to enable them to play an important role as change agents in addressing the challenges we are facing. It is essential to disseminate information and knowledge to them on relevant issues to help them upskill and improve patient care.”