Computers are increasingly used in Online Medical education. Online Medical education (e-learning) is moving from textbooks in electronic format (that are increasingly enhanced by the use of multimedia adjuncts) to a truly interactive medium that can be delivered to meet the educational needs of students and postgraduate learners.
For doctors and other healthcare professionals, medical education means keeping up-to-date with rapidly changing clinical practice and technology, and encompasses Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Meanwhile, the demands of medical education and continuous professional development are also rapidly evolving as the regulatory demands on healthcare professionals increase.
The COVID-19 crisis is dramatically accelerating these trends. Face-to-face interactions with health care practitioners (HCPs) are no longer an option in most areas, and likely won’t be for the coming weeks or even months. As U.S. pharmaceutical company employees join the majority of the American workforce in working from home, sales reps are abruptly shifting to digital channels to engage with physicians. Virtual meetings, webinars, HCP portals, and emails are replacing in-office rep visits and dinner meetings. Additionally, all major medical conferences, normally a key forum for HCP interaction, have moved to a virtual format for the foreseeable future.
In the mental health space, another technology advancement, virtual reality (VR), has proven its effectiveness in helping treat patients living with mental health conditions. According to Georgia Mitsi, Ph.D., senior director, Frontier Business Office Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, parent company of Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, “Scientific evidence has already indicated that VR has therapeutic benefits in many conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, pain management, etc. It has tremendous power to be engaging, empowering, and therapeutic. The portability and accessibility of VR in combination with the affordability of these systems and the ease of use in a home environment, will enable adoption across a wide range of patient populations.”
The industry has reached a point where there is a consensus about providing value for patients through tools that help them become more involved and empowered. Research has shown, and recent market trends have reinforced, that such technologies that respond to unmet needs could play a strong role in the new collaborative care model. By leveraging these technologies, not only would patients become more satisfied with and in control of their care, but also they would realize an improvement in their health.
