Advancing healthcare technology education and innovation in academia

The role of mentoring and coaching of healthcare professionals for digital technology adoption and implementation: A scoping review

Objective

Mentoring and coaching practices have supported the career and skill development of healthcare professionals (HCPs); however, their role in digital technology adoption and implementation for HCPs is unknown. The objective of this scoping review was to summarize information on healthcare education programs that have integrated mentoring or coaching as a key component.

Methods

The search strategy and keyword searches were developed by the project team and a research librarian. A two-stage screening process consisting of a title/abstract scan and a full-text review was conducted by two independent reviewers to determine study eligibility. Articles were included if they: (1) discussed the mentoring and/or coaching of HCPs on digital technology, including artificial intelligence, (2) described a population of HCPs at any stage of their career, and (3) were published in English.

Results

A total of 9473 unique citations were screened, identifying 19 eligible articles. 11 articles described mentoring and/or coaching programs for digital technology adoption, while eigth described mentoring and/or coaching for digital technology implementation. Program participants represented a diverse range of industries (i.e., clinical, academic, education, business, and information technology). Digital technologies taught within programs included electronic health records (EHRs), ultrasound imaging, digital health informatics, and computer skills.

Conclusions

This review provided a summary of the role of mentoring and/or coaching practices within digital technology education for HCPs. Future training initiatives for HCPs should consider appropriate resources, program design, mentor-learner relationship, security concerns and setting clear expectations for program participants. Future research could explore mentor/coach characteristics that would facilitate successful skill transfer.

Medical Student Enrollment in a Voluntary Medical Innovation Course

Background

There is an increasing need for medical innovators to help address the growing challenges within health care. Despite this, the rate of adoption of new medical innovation programs at the United States (US) medical schools has been slow. Existing literature explaining this slow rate of adoption is scant. We examined the rate of student enrollment in a voluntary medical innovation course during an unscheduled summer at our institution and the educational backgrounds of these enrollees.

Methods

This mixed qualitative and quantitative survey study comprised consecutive surveys quantifying a two-stage sign-up process for a voluntary summer medical innovation course for Medical Doctorate (MD) candidates at the David Geffen School of Medicine. After a "General interest" survey, interested students completed an "Enrollment" survey to indicate enrollment, educational background, and open-ended comment about motivations for enrollment. Surveys were administered electronically via email listservs. Statistical methods included chi squared testing with statistical significance defined as p < 0.05.

Findings

A total of 12% of UCLA Class of 2024 expressed an interest in participation in the program, and 10.3% ultimately enrolled. Enrollees were motivated primarily by the opportunity to learn about medical innovation (72%) and also shadow (28%). Enrollees were similar in undergraduate degrees and majors to the general medical student class and US MD candidate population.

Conclusion

A lack of medical student willingness to participate may not underlie the observed slow rate of adoption of medical innovation programs at US MD programs given the observed high voluntary enrollment rate. Enrollee educational background did not differ significantly from non-enrollees or the broader US MD candidate population. Educators should be encouraged by these data to explore student willingness to participate in medical innovation education at their institutions.

A Novel Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) Training Program for Biomedical Research Trainees

PROBLEM

Contemporary science emphasizes efficient translation of scientific discoveries into tangible, innovative products and services to improve human health. Therefore, researchers need skills in innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) to select which problems to address and bring to market the most promising solutions. Training in this skillset is not currently available to most biomedical research trainees.

APPROACH

The Entrepreneurship for Biomedicine (E4B) training program was created to develop biomedical researchers' I&E skills. The program comprises 2 semester-length courses: E4B1 teaches core skills; E4B2 focuses on advanced skills for those interested in pursuing funding for a new venture. In addition to traditional entrepreneurship training, E4B teaches ethics and personal skills such as resilience, communication, and team-building. Each course is delivered online and requires about 4 hours weekly. Program elements include short videos for didactic content; a team-based capstone project; mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs; and a live, virtual pitch presentation. The program is housed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and is open to pre- and postdoctoral biomedical research trainees and faculty nationwide.

OUTCOMES

In 2020, 77 trainees completed E4B1 and 13 went on to complete E4B2. Trainees in both courses were satisfied with learning content and mentorship and would recommend the program to a friend. Pre- and postanalyses demonstrated that trainees' confidence in their knowledge about and ability to perform I&E tasks taught throughout the program increased. Since completion, 4 graduates have received external funding for an innovation and 3 have started a company.

NEXT STEPS

E4B is well accepted, and this preliminary evaluation suggests the program is effective. It could serve to support medical school curricula, business competitions, and technology transfer efforts, which are opportunities for future exploration. A more robust evaluation is planned and recruitment will be expanded to increase participation from women and underrepresented populations.

An MDRE approach to promoting students' learning performances in the era of the pandemic: A quasi-experimental design

Educators have indicated the need to foster students' ability to solve problems by acquiring up-to-date knowledge as well as promoting their competences for making decisions from diverse perspectives based on the acquired knowledge. Traditional courses mainly use lecture-based instruction without providing sufficient opportunities for students to practice and interact with the teacher; therefore, it is difficult to deliver such up-to-date knowledge via traditional instruction, not to mention fostering students' critical thinking. In this study, the Mobile technology-supported Decision, Reflection and Exercise (MDRE) model is proposed to address this problem. Moreover, a learning system is developed based on the proposed approach. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in a university with a two-group pretest posttest design to assess participants' learning achievement, critical thinking and learning satisfaction. The participants were two classes of undergraduate students. One class with 37 students was the experimental group learning with the MDRE learning approach, whereas the other class with 37 students was the control group learning with the conventional technology-based learning approach. Analysis of covariance was performed to evaluate the effect of the intervention on the target outcomes. It was found that the experimental group showed better learning achievement, critical thinking and learning satisfaction than the control group. This implies that the MDRE approach has good potential in helping learners think from diverse perspectives and promoting their learning performance and engagement, which is important in higher education aimed at fostering students' competence of acquiring up-to-date knowledge for solving problems.