I’ve written a few times recently about the changing skill requirements of the healthcare industry, both in terms of adapting to the changing digital requirements, and indeed to fulfil the growing desire for more preventative services.
Achieving any kind of skills-based transformation is difficult, due to the twin pressures of learning in one of the most time-pressured industries around, but also in delivering learning opportunities at scale in a cost-effective way in a sector that is extremely strapped for cash.
MOOCs are a delivery mechanism that aims to tick both boxes, by providing bite sized courses from leading universities that are considerably cheaper than traditional training courses. So it’s interesting to see that the leading MOOC platform Coursera has recently launched a health vertical, which contains around 100 new courses that are aimed directly at the digital health economy.
“I am deeply passionate about driving innovation in healthcare,” said Daphne Koller, Co-Founder of Coursera. “The sector, which is under enormous strain to support the needs of a growing and aging population, presents a huge opportunity for meaningful technological transformation that stands to not only improve health outcomes for people around the world but also reduce the increasingly unaffordable costs of healthcare, both to individuals and to society. I’m excited to see Coursera and its partners coming together to help realize that potential by providing access to flexible and affordable education options that can help usher in the next generation of healthcare workers in high-demand fields like health informatics, healthcare management, and public health.”
The courses, which will be delivered by university partners such as Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University, will include specializations on population health management, nursing informatics and biostatistics. The ultimate aim is to supplement the excellent medical knowledge already in the industry.
Interdisciplinary knowledge
The rationale is that modern health issues require a high level of interdisciplinary knowledge to achieve population-level change in behavior. With around 100 courses available via the platform, there will be no shortage of pathways to choose from.
The challenge is likely to be less in providing staff with access to training material, but providing them with the time to learn new things. Stress levels across healthcare systems are extremely high, and spare time is not something that many employees have much of.
Nonetheless, the provision of good quality, bite sized courses should be regarded as a good thing as the new specializations are rolled out throughout 2019.
