The coronavirus pandemic has completely reshaped how millions of learners around the globe are educated – this includes those in the allied healthcare professions as they seek, and are still required to maintain continuing education.

COVID-19 has also given us a glimpse of how the educational landscape is shifting to an almost exclusively online environment. Albeit forced, and oftentimes rushed, this pandemic has necessitated innovation and adaptation to online learning – perhaps for the long-term.

The closures that it has left in its wake (restaurants, offices, schools, doctor’s offices), have caused disruption and inconvenience to say the least, but the impact also reverberated in all the professional fields where continuing education is an important component in employee education and development.

Continuing education has experienced a surge

Since COVID-19, significant growth in the number of users and certificates awarded for completing CE courses has experienced a significant surge. This can likely be attributed to two factors:

  1. As hinted previously, COVID-19 has affected our education systems globally. Closures of colleges, universities, and the whole ecosystem of educational “products” it supplies, has been disrupted. It is no longer feasible to receive continuing education by many of the traditional means we’re used to:
    • Workshops
    • Conferences
    • Lectures
    • Demonstrations
    • Training

These are no longer an option.

95% of institutions have suspended travel for faculty & staff [EDUCATIONDATA.ORG]

So the solution, move them to an online format. The result, a surge in the number of users and certificates awarded for completing CE courses.

2. A virtual workplace is a new office.

93% of institutions implemented work-remotely policies for staff [EDUCATIONDATA.ORG]

Doctors are seeing patients remotely, medical professionals are conducting business via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and the new normal is to be parked in front of a computer screen, instead of in-person. So where is the most logical place to seek out and complete Continuing Education? Online.

A final influencer worth considering is an increase in learner autonomy. Many work-from-home allied health professionals have a bit more breathing room and lots more access to screen-time to shape their schedules more independently. Instead of thinking, “I should really get caught up on my CE”, and have neither the time nor immediate access to do so, in a few clicks they can be taking an online course of their choice. It is literally right in front of them.

Is there a positive?

It is digital learning’s time in the spotlight. Online CE programs continue to be revamped to absorb the influx of this new shift to remote work and training. Let’s look at this ripple effect the pandemic has had from both perspectives: learners in Allied Healthcare and the providers of Continuing Education programs.

Allied Healthcare Professionals

It’s all about targeted UPSKILLING.

Due to the novel coronavirus, the demand for new skills, knowledge, and products has been placed on an accelerated timetable. The returns on education are at a much higher value than we’ve seen in the past decades. A rigidly defined problem has arisen (bring an end to the pandemic) with branches that extend to every facet of Allied Healthcare.

This has catapulted online training, CE programs, and continuous learning to a level of absolute necessity.

  • Employees are being cross-trained to adapt quickly to new and often unforeseen needs.
  • Armchair quarterbacks have been replaced by an armchair epidemiologist, just to get a grasp on how to deal with the pandemic within workplaces and healthcare facilities.
  • A “do whatever it takes” mantra has given the green light to learning/researching/training the skills needed to effectively fight the coronavirus pandemic.

This has resulted in individuals consuming every ounce of knowledge at their disposal, taking and completing multiple online courses, and seeking out additional content to fight the pandemic.

Continuing education providers

It’s all about meeting DEMAND.

98% of institutions have moved the majority of in-person classes online [EDUCATIONDATA.ORG]

AND

43% of institutions have invested in new online learning resources [EDUCATIONDATA.ORG]

When delivered digitally, Continuing Education has several advantages that are being recognized in a big way right now. In our previous article, “6 Compelling Reasons Why AHPs Should Use an ELearning Platform”, we explored the benefits of delivering training online. These same reasons are why CE providers are thriving during a global pandemic, where traditional educational systems are failing.

  • Flexible and time-conscious
  • Easy to update and reference training material
  • Numerous learning benefits
  • Can leverage the community
  • Cost-effective
  • Provide a continuous, trustworthy learning experience

Additionally, companies that navigate the COVID-19 crisis successfully, and are able to implement effective and robust training programs remotely, will thrive in the long-term. They will have optimized their strategies to respond to future crisis situations and also have the ability to deliver online training solutions at an unprecedented scale.

Unique training requirements

Finally, the coronavirus pandemic has brought about numerous needs-based training requirements. These fast-tracked courses have either been re-purposed to meet the demand or created specifically to address one of the many need-to-know components for AHPs as they react to the pandemic.

Health & Safety: Perhaps the highest priority has been ensuring the health & safety of the professionals on the front lines. If this valuable information can’t be delivered in-person, then online delivery ensures workers gain the knowledge necessary to implement best practices.

Guidelines: As the Centers for Disease Control and other organizations publish guidelines, it is the responsibility of individual organizations to implement those guidelines. One of the best ways to disseminate these requirements, which have been changing almost weekly it seems, has been via online training.

New Products: Crisis has always led to innovation. COVID-19 is no exception. New products are being developed to combat the pandemic, requiring AHPs to be trained on how and when to use them. Additionally, “new” doesn’t just refer to MedTech products being invented, but more so whether the product is new to the AHP tasked with using them. A gamut of critical medical supplies such as diagnostic tests, ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE), and many others require training.

Technology: The same applies to technology. CE courses are being revisited to adapt and refresh knowledge in a variety of technologies: software, virtual platforms, simulations, remote healthcare, and even artificial intelligence.

Continuing Education Has Changed – Forever

Allied Healthcare Professionals are now hyper-aware of obtaining vital continuing education, particularly online. Additionally, the CE providers who get it right during this challenging time will rise to the top as the provider of choice for many Allied Healthcare industries.