e-learning case studies

Epic DH / Royal College of Radiologists

Case Study: e-learning recruitment and training strategy to overcome UK shortage of radiologists

Background

There is a severe shortage of trained radiologists working in the UK. The Department of Health (DH) and the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), the professional body for trainee and working radiologists, are developing a major training programme to attract greater numbers of student radiologists.

They developed a model for the ambitious Radiology Integrated Training Initiative (RITI) which offers a blended approach to training with an e-learning component of up to 400 hours.

RITI called for meticulous planning, considerable experience in large-scale e-learning and the ability to visualise the end result to ensure the project's success.

The DH and the RCR asked Epic, the UK market leader in e-learning, blended learning and knowledge solutions, to provide a range of consultancy support for the development of the blended learning initiative.

E-learning solution

Epic worked with the DH and RCR to build an ongoing e-learning strategy which will ultimately provide comprehensive support and educational materials to trainee and practising radiologists and their lecturers.

This included:

• a radiology demonstrator (an engaging 20-minute e-learning component)

• advice on how to structure a three-year programme of blended learning to make the best use of radiologists' limited time

• analysis of the risks and issues faced on the project and approaches to mitigate against them

• three prototype production models for testing to find the most appropriate method of distributing design, authoring and review tasks across the stakeholders

• user-friendly interfaces to enable radiology authors to move the course into initial production stages

Results

This is one of the largest blended learning initiatives underway in the UK. Epic's activities and input have assisted in building consensus among the key players on the role e-learning can play in enabling a self-directed, engaging learning experience for future radiologists.