Making Medical Education Courses Visible: Theory-Based Development of a National Database

Abstract

Background: Medical education has undergone professionalization during the last decades, and internationally, educators are trained in specific medical education courses also known as "train the trainer" courses. As these courses have developed organically based on local needs, the lack of a general structure and terminology can confuse and hinder educators' information and development. The first aim of this study was to conduct a national search, analyze the findings, and provide a presentation of medical education courses based on international theoretical frameworks to support Swiss course providers and educators searching for courses. The second aim was to provide a blueprint for such a procedure to be used by the international audience.

Objective: In this study, we devised a scholarly approach to sorting and presenting medical education courses to make their content accessible to medical educators. This approach is presented in detailed steps and our openly available exemplary database to make it serve as a blueprint for other settings.

Methods: Following our constructivist paradigm, we examined content from medical education courses using a theory-informed inductive data approach. Switzerland served as an example, covering 4 languages and different approaches to medical education. Data were gathered through an online search and a nationwide survey with course providers. The acquired data and a concurrently developed keyword system to standardize course terminology are presented using Obsidian, a software that shows data networks.

Results: Our iterative search included several strategies (web search, survey, provider enquiry, and snowballing) and yielded 69 courses in 4 languages, with varying terminology, target audiences, and providers. The database of courses is interactive and openly accessible. An open-access template database structure is also available.

Conclusions: This study proposes a novel method for sorting and visualizing medical education courses and the competencies they cover to provide an easy-to-use database, helping medical educators' practical and scholarly development. Notably, our analysis identified a specific emphasis on undergraduate teaching settings, potentially indicating a gap in postgraduate educational offerings. This aspect could be pivotal for future curriculum development and resource allocation. Our method might guide other countries and health care professions, offering a straightforward means of cataloging and making information about medical education courses widely available and promotable.

Keywords: competencies; curriculum mapping; database; faculty development; medical education.

Figure 1.. Obsidian visualization of domains and keywords.

Figure 2.. Flowchart of the course identification process. One course that omitted whether physicians were part of its target audience expressed the wish upon further inquiry not to be included in this study for now but to be re-evaluated in future similar endeavors due to the current reorganization of the course offerings. Another course provider told us upon request for further information that our information on their course provided as a survey result was outdated and that they could not share further details about their course. Adapted from Page et al [32].

Figure 3.. Screenshot of the publicly accessible database landing page.

Figure 4.. Exemplary screenshot of one course.