Vital Signs: How e-learning for Midwives and Sonographers in Developing Countries Can Help to Save Lives Neha Baj Project Manager

A BOUT ME Director of Anu Technologies - Learning and Development Consultancy firm: 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: 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

T HE WORLD

P HYSICIANS IN THE WORLD

JUSTIFICATION Lack of sonographers in rural communities High maternal mortality rate from sonographically detectable and potentially treatable conditions

P ROBLEM 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

P ILOT IN U GANDA 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

E CUREI TRAINING CENTRE, KAMPALA

T RAINING FACILITIES

R URAL HEALTHCARE CENTRE

T HE 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

C OST B REAKDOWN We only spent money on: Graphics and animation development Graphics purchases: sourced for free or provided by e-Learning for Healthcare wherever possible, occasional costs absorbed by Anu Tech Travel expenses for two meetings

P ROJECT CONTENTS Ten thirty-minute e-learning sessions: Normal early pregnancy Abnormal early pregnancy Scanning in second and third trimesters Fetal measurement and age calculation Fetal abnormality Multiple pregnancy

Authoring tool: eXact Packager

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

D ELIVERY Computers in training centres and laptops provided for use in rural locations Pilot in Uganda Offline using memory sticks Online, on my website via

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?