Why should serious medical conversations take place only in formal classrooms or at official conferences? Continual learning opportunities are literally all around us. Doctors are using LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging, podcasts, video, chat groups and other web-based techniques to both obtain and share information.
Why have doctors turned to e-learning?
Healthcare has gone digital. The internet allows access to information in ways never before possible. Social platforms create communities never before possible. Mobile technologies facilitate timeliness never before possible. The combination has brought about profound changes in medicine and continual learning for doctors.
Textbooks and journals can go out of date – rather quickly, given the ever-increasing rate at which new information is emerging. E-learning is more current and therefore more useful for everyday practice. Information is available to every doctor that wants it, regardless of where they practice, budgetary constraints, etc. Students, residents and medical “veterans” can interact more easily, for education and collaboration.
The value is two-fold: effectively using technology builds your personal ability to improve patient outcomes and it expands the scientific capabilities of your entire area of practice.
What are doctors learning?
The internet provides easy access to medical libraries (but those can be expensive) and the latest professional publications. Social media – especially LinkedIn – enable doctors to meet one another, consult with peers one-on-one and participate in study groups with local or global colleagues. They’re sharing best practices, practical tips and their toughest challenges. They’re networking, as all professionals do.
The problem for doctors isn’t finding information, it’s finding time.
You’d have to spend 36 hours a day to keep up with the vast amount of new medical knowledge continuously available. And that doesn’t include time to consult with and treat patients, let alone look up existing data. It’s purely impossible. Yet somehow you have to give it your best shot.
Your only hope is to use the latest technologies, skillfully and effectively. Fortunately, smartphones and tablets are ubiquitous in hospitals, doctor’s offices and in the hands of doctors on the go. Mobile devices connect you to colleagues and information without regard to location or distance.
Sculapio lets you manage both information and time.
Designed by physicians specifically for fellow health professionals, this exceptional technology tool opens doors to e-learning, whether you’re a brand new general practitioner, a pediatric surgeon or a dentist. With worldwide access to doctors in your own specialty and others, you can hear as it’s happening what your peers are working on, thinking about, discovering. Chime in, collaborate, help brainstorm solutions to their thorniest diagnostic or treatment problems.
No longer do you have to work in a teaching hospital to share your experience and wisdom. No longer are rural physicians or those in less-advantaged countries disconnected from the latest information or assistance from other health professionals. Your colleagues and their expertise are at your fingertips.
Clinical problem you can’t solve? Post a question and photos – omitting patient-identifying details — and immediately receive comments and recommendations. The more unusual your challenge, the less likely you’ll uncover help in the existing literature. And the more time-sensitive your problem, the more you need help now. With Sculapio, you can connect with those who may have had a similar case and benefit from their pertinent experience, theories and findings. This kind of insight rarely gets published because it’s too unique.
The future will bring unimaginable opportunities, with yet newer forms of information and communication. Those who adopt and adapt current technologies will be in the best position to benefit from the next big advance in continual learning. Will that be you? Sculapio is fast and easy to use, and it’s free to doctors. Register now and download the app to start connecting to the information you need.
