COVID-19 ONLINE CROSS-TRAINING PROGRAM

Background:The need for continuity in medical education with the advent of COVID -19, has been highlighted in light of the current global pandemic situation. As the risks posed by COVID -19 must be balanced against the need to care for patients and protect health care workers, cross-training of various health care professions is now more important than ever. In response to the global pandemic and in line with current practice, the Ministry of National Security, King Abdul-Aziz Medical City-Jeddah, has established a cross-training working task force comprising medical educational specialists from various specialtiesto develop an educational platform that includes up-to-date learning resources to provide healthcare professionals with the knowledge they need to treat critical, suspected, and confirmed COVID -19 patients.The main objective of this manuscript is to describe and discuss the implementation process of the cross-training modules. In addition, the manuscript aims to address the knowledge gap related to COVID -19 management by measuring the perceptions of medical students and healthcare professionals. Methods:A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted in the King Abdul-Aziz Medical City (KAMC) National Guard using the COVID -19 cross-training e-learning platform. The training participants were primarily physicians, then health care workers, students and interns from different universities (KSAU-HS) to be able to treat COVID -19 patients in different areas. This platform was equipped with all the necessary functions to create e-learning training courses. The content of the educational material was to be delivered using two main teaching methods: (1) Virtual learning modules consisting of basic and advanced courses. (2) Simulation-based instruction, consisting of computer-based and simulation manikin-based courses. First, a needs assessment survey was distributed to approximately 150 medical students and health professionals. Then, another self-assessment survey was distributed to approximately 1000 participants. Results: In the needs assessment survey, the majority of participants (22.3%) were from the Department of Internal Medicine. In the feedback survey, the majority of participants were from the Department of Nursing (15.7%). Overall, participants consider the Cross-Training Module/Unit Content & Structure to be adequate in terms of its purpose (P 0.908) results also indicate that participants are satisfied with the provisions (P 0.374) and that the Cross-Training was relevant and helpful to the circumscribed and included professions (P 0.731). Conclusion: As synthesis research, this study revealed the perceptions of health professionals and medical students regarding the implementation of an e-learning strategy for cross-training as a teaching tool. Participants indicated that the training program was most helpful because the course materials were strongly tailored to their areas of expertise.