1. Virtual Health Technology Training for Latin America and the Caribbean
Tobey Clark, Director*, Burlington USA
Alexandre Lemgruber, Regional Advisor in Health Technologies, Pan American Health Organization, Washington DC USA
Rossana Rivas, Senior Advisor*, Lima Peru
* WHO Collaborating Center for Health Technology Management
Presentation #160
Fourth WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices

2. Fourth WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices
Disclosure
The presenter declares no conflict of interest with the materials provided.
Fourth WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices

3. The value of virtual courses for global health technology training
Healthcare technology is rapidly expanding in the developing world
Capacity building is needed in the area of biomedical technology and its management
Online training is becoming a viable and impacting option worldwide due to the availability of communication networks and devices
The educational resources of the World Wide Web are tremendous
There are no costs or lost time for travel to a classroom
Online training’s asynchronous nature allows maximum flexibility for study and assignment completion time.
New technologies such as virtual reality for hands-on activities

4. Bi-lingual Technical Course 1: Basic – Patient Care Equipment
Healthcare Technology
Overview, Environment of Care & Standards
Preventing and Resolving Equipment Problems
Quality Assurance, PM and Troubleshooting
Human body
Engineering Concepts and Principles
Technology with focus on electrical
Measurement and diagnostic instruments
Electrocardiography
Cardiovascular
Pulse oximetry
Fetal and neonatal monitoring
Therapy devices
Defibrillators/Pacemakers
Incubators/Infant Warmers/Phototherapy
Infusion and medication technology
Ventilators

5. Bi-lingual Technical Course 2:
Advanced – Medical Systems and Technology
Imaging Technologies
Image Quality
Radiography
Fluoroscopy
Computed Tomography
Nuclear Medicine
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Ultrasound
Medical Imaging Networks
Advanced Technologies
Radiation Therapy Systems
Telemedicine
Clinical Engineering/IT Collaboration
Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery
Electrosurgery
Medical Lasers
Clinical Laboratory
Physical Therapy Equipment

6. Overall International Results: 2007 - 2018
Over 1000 students from 40 countries have taken course
Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua, St. Lucia, Belize, British Virgin Islands, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Turks & Caicos, France, Spain, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Barbuda, Guyana, Bahamas, Anguilla, Honduras, Cuba, El Salvador, Panamá, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the USA

7. Healthcare Technology Planning and Management online course
Originally taught at University of Vermont beginning in 2008
The Spanish version developed using the content of the English course translated and adapted to Latin America with additional content creation
Taught on the PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health in 2015 and 2017

8. PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health:
Healthcare Technology Planning & Management course
Teaches best practices to follow over the healthcare technology life cycle
For adult learners working in various leadership and technical capacities

9. Healthcare Technology Planning & Management 2017 course
Results:
Healthcare Technology Planning & Management 2017 course
High level of participant engagement on in discussion forums with other students and instructors
Average of 2.5 quality posts by each student for each discussion question with constructive responds to other students showing outstanding interaction leading to high value
95% overall satisfaction
Reports focused on countries projects and were of high quality

10. Planned Improvements and Future Activities
Courses to be offered by PAHO in 2019
Highlight more practical elements of HT planning and management by providing more real life case studies from Latin America and the Caribbean
Due to the high degree of inter-action and networking taking place on the discussion board, this high value area should be graded with a higher weight
Add additional webinars to the course as this promotes strong interaction and net- working
Continuing online forums and webinars following the course to continue engagement
Correct platform problems especially those related to long exams
Develop Portuguese and French course adapted to Brazil and Francophone countries respectively

11. धन्यवाद

12. Primary contact: tobey.clark@uvm.edu
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