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Person-centred Digital Healthcare

CPD - short course
Digital health

What is an RCSI Online short course?

RCSI understands that healthcare professionals need to continuously grow and learn, enhancing their skills and expertise to meet the needs of an ever evolving and complex healthcare environment and the changing demands of their roles. We know that sometimes a short and focused course in a specific subject area is all you need to meet your professional development needs at a point in time.

Our new and exciting CPD short courses will allow you to access transformative education, with topics and content delivered by subject-matter experts with industry experience and expertise. You will have access to leading-edge, highly relevant content delivered in a stimulating online learning environment, with exciting weekly course themes and formative knowledge checks. Each week, you will engage in a 1.5-hour live webinar session, accompanied by self-paced online activities to earn an RCSI Certificate on completion.

Why Person-centred Digital Healthcare?

Health tracker apps on our phones, patient files being shared between different clinicians, multidisciplinary healthcare teams collaborating within and across institutions: these are just some of the ways in which the digital revolution is impacting healthcare.

At the same time, the rise of person-centred healthcare means that, instead of treating one aspect of an illness or injury, health professionals increasingly look at the whole person. It’s not enough, for instance, to just treat a patient’s heart condition in isolation. Instead, the clinician needs to look at their wider circumstances, such as diet, income levels and housing conditions.

This new short course from RCSI – which counts towards continuous professional development credits – will guide you through the wider issues involved in the digital health revolution, and demonstrate how digital tools can be used to deliver a person-centred healthcare model. It will examine the drivers of this digital disruption and the forces resisting change, before inviting you to analyse the implications for your organisation, as well as your professional and personal identity.

register your interest

Follow in the path of former students who have embraced 230 years of teaching excellence. Driven by the promise of 'leading the world to better health', RSCI has been at the forefront of international healthcare education since our establishment in 1784, and we have a worldwide reputation for delivering excellent Undergraduate and Postgraduate health professions education.

RCSI's singular healthcare focus is evident through all our Postgraduate programmes, offering innovative, insight-rich and immersive development opportunities for both current and future leaders in healthcare.

By the end of the course, you will be better able to: 

  • Explain the forces involved in healthcare's transformation to digital and citizen-centric.
  • Contrast digital health with more traditional models of healthcare.
  • Analyse the concept of citizen centricity.
  • Appraise the disruption likely to be associated with healthcare's transformation to digital and citizen-centric.
  • Develop new health service delivery models for the digital era.
  • Week one: In this introductory week, you will learn about and discuss the latest healthcare trends and innovations, the forces driving this change and how to provide more care to a growing and ageing population. You will also learn about the digital tools that are empowering clinicians to deliver remote solutions for patients.  
  • Week two: What does person-centric healthcare mean? How has the concept evolved? As a patient, what would a healthcare professional expect for themselves? You will also look at the wider health system.
  • Week three: What does digital healthcare mean for our society and for patient care? Is the disruption that comes with new technologies a driver of positive change, or do some clinicians and patients risk being left behind? What technologies can help, and is there any benefit to resisting the tides of change? 
  • Week four: You are challenged to consider how you might bring about change in your own practice and workplace. You will learn how to develop models of person-centred, digitally enabled healthcare.  
  • Week five: You will reflect on your learning and consider how you can realistically implement change in your own workplaces and practices.
 

This five-week course is fully online, so that you can study at a pace that suits your lifestyle. You will not be required to attend live sessions, ensuring flexibility for your schedule. The course consists of five weeks of content, including four weeks of teaching and a final week for completing a personal learning plan. Learning content is delivered primarily through pre-recorded video lectures and online activities.

Each week, there will be a recorded 90-minute webinar available, focusing on key topics. These webinars are accessible at any time for your convenience.

We understand that online learning might be a new experience for some. Our virtual learning environment (VLE) is intuitive, accessible, and easy to navigate. A dedicated programme coordinator will be available to assist with any technical difficulties or questions about learning online.

At the start of the course, we provide short orientation videos to familiarise you with the platform and course format.

This course is suitable for any healthcare professional, whether working as clinicians or in a managerial stream, who wish to learn about and drive change in their workplace and professional practice. It may also be of interest to some IT professionals working in healthcare.

David Rowlands

David Rowlands is a management consultant specialising in health and health informatics and has recently launched the Digital Health Workforce Academy – a provider of online training courses in health informatics – in collaboration with HISA. David has a broad background in the health sector and has worked for public sector health agencies in two states as well as the Commonwealth Department and has held Directorships in a variety of not-for-profit health and related agencies. David’s executive roles have included managing health services; health service planning and performance management; information management and management of corporate services and has also led national strategic initiatives in Australia and Asia.

David is a former HISA Chair and remains committed to developing Australia’s health informatics capabilities. He is the author of A Practitioner’s Guide to Health Informatics in Australia, available through the HISA Shop.

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will receive a RCSI Completion Certificate. Achieving this Certificate and earning continuous professional development (CPD) points involves passing weekly MCQs, engaging in online discussions, and participating in reflective exercises, including the completion of a personal action plan. These components are designed to be flexible, allowing you to progress at your own pace while ensuring a comprehensive learning experience.

Although this course does not carry credits as per the European Credit Transfer System, it upholds rigorous quality assurance standards to provide an excellent educational experience. The course has been approved by the RCSI Professional Development and Practice Committee and is accredited for CPD points in line with the Irish Medical Council guidelines. Participants seeking recognition in other jurisdictions should verify the applicability of these CPD points as per their local requirements.

Note: RCSI accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof, in respect of a participant who chooses to withdraw from or does not complete a course.

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