Vital Signs: How e-learning for Midwives and Sonographers in

Developing Countries Can Help to Save Lives

Neha BajProject Manager

About me

Director of Anu Technologies - Learning and Development Consultancy firm: www.anu-tech.com

Computer Engineer with Masters in Educational Technology

Projects for school leaders, nurses, radiologists, dentists, radiotherapists, business project managers

Project Manager at e-Learning for Healthcare, Health Education England: www.e-lfh.org.uk

Award-winning e-learning projects

background

World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology

Educational Centres of Excellence in developing countries e.g. Uganda, Venezuela, Romania

Sponsorship of educational efforts and support for trainees to visit educational institutions

e-learning reaches remote communities with a consistent approach

The world

Physicians in the world

JUSTIFICATION

Lack of sonographers in rural communities

High maternal mortality rate from sonographically detectable and potentially treatable conditions

Problem statements

Ultrasound in rural facilities is done by nurses and midwives; very few personnel

Radiologists are in large cities, in large hospitals

Training centers located only in the cities

Rural-based personnel move to the city to train for weeks/months, leaving a vacuum in rural health facilities

Pilot in Uganda

Move training to mainly in the rural centre

Theory part mainly in urban training centre

Some visiting lecturers to rural centre Practical part started in urban centre,

but portable Ultrasound machines for hands-on training in the community

e-Learning to support training both in urban and rural centre

Ecurei training centre, kampala

Training facilities

Rural healthcare centre

The team

Dr Paul Dubbins – Head of WFUMB Education Committee

Radiologists and sonographers in Plymouth, England

Ultrasound equipment expert – Toshiba Patient images – mommies! e-learning software supplier – e-Learning for

Healthcare Graphics and animation designers Instructional designer – me! Content and instructional design reviewers

Cost Breakdown

We only spent money on: Graphics and animation developmentGraphics purchases: sourced for free or

provided by e-Learning for Healthcare wherever possible, occasional costs absorbed by Anu Tech

Travel expenses for two meetings

Project contents

Ten thirty-minute e-learning sessions:Normal early pregnancyAbnormal early pregnancyScanning in second and third

trimestersFetal measurement and age

calculationFetal abnormalityMultiple pregnancy

Authoring tool: eXact Packager

Authoring tool: eXact Packager by Exact Learning SolutionsTemplated page designs provided by e-Learning for Healthcare

Delivery

Computers in training centres and laptops provided for use in rural locations

Pilot in UgandaOffline using memory sticks Online, on my website via

www.tinyurl.com/wfumb

INFORMAL PILOT IN SIERRA LEONE

EVALUATION

Online survey with survey monkey Word-based survey – printed out

RESULTS

100% satisfied overall All reported problems with video and image

loading speed when accessed online Some felt more detail was needed in content Problems with accessing Flash-based content

e.g. animations Video too fast to see what’s happening

“Interactive and not boring!”

OUTCOMES

Provision of obstetrics ultrasound services in rural communities increases maternal (and paternal!) engagement

Maternal and fetal health problems identified early and referred early

Hopefully…better mortality rates for mum and baby

NEXT STEPS

Convert Flash to HTML5 and accessibility-friendly version

Development of Basic Physics module Delivery on LMS/other web server Partnership with manufacturers to enable

delivery alongside equipment Dissemination to other WFUMB Educational

Centres of Excellence e-learning on simple phones?

QUESTIONS?neha.baj@anu-tech.com