Osler Technology, an Australian developer of online healthcare portfolios and learning applications, has unveiled a new education platform for healthcare professionals.

WHAT IT DOES

The My Osler app provides resources to aid in learning, such as modules, podcasts, quizzes, articles, procedures and scenarios. It is designed for students and healthcare professionals in acute care.

Through paid access, users can leverage its ePortfolio function, which offers tools such as a logbook, self-reflection journal, CPD diary, feedback app and career planner.

The app is now available for download on both iOS and Android devices.

WHY IT MATTERS

High-quality educational materials in the healthcare field are hard to find and poorly funded, particularly in online learning, says Dr Todd Fraser, chief medical officer at Osler Technology. 

"Many people are creating the same content over and over, but it is sub-scale and underfunded. We believe that providing excellent educational materials appeals, and as we continue to grow, we can attract the funding to provide these resources broadly," Fraser told MobiHealthNews.

Fraser also notes that online education is usually delivered with "little attention" to user experience. He went on to say that the app is designed "in a manner reminiscent of Netflix – immediately intuitive to navigate, customisable to your own needs (if you’re an emergency nurse, you see emergency nursing material), fast, sleek and visually appealing."

"This is what the consumer market expects – every app they interact with in their personal lives works this way, but none of them does in their professional lives," he added.

According to Fraser, the app provides fresh, comprehensive and verifiable learning materials that are presented in a standardised way. The materials are designed for varying stages of expertise, from basic to advanced. He also shared that "learners can take a clear record with them wherever they go, so that training is continuous, not reinvented each time they move."

THE LARGER TREND

The latest in healthcare education and training is seeing the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Last month, Vantari VR, an Australian startup, got a grant from Epic Games to expand its VR training platform. Fundamental Surgery, which is run by FundamentalVR, added a new feature last year that allows online group learning. UK-based workforce management and training platform Transform, which was previously focused on the energy industry, has started offering training programmes in the pharmaceutical sector.

Earlier this month, Impelsys, which runs e-book platforms and learning management systems, spun off its healthcare education platform iPC Health into a separate entity, which is now called MedLern. The platform seeks to help in augmenting the number of skilled healthcare workers in India.