Massive open online courses (MOOCs) for continuing medical education – why and how?

Figures & data

Figure 1 Massive open online courses (MOOCs) – an overview.

Notes: MOOCs are open online learning courses freely accessible via the web. Unlike most traditional online courses, MOOC courses are free of charge and registration is often kept without any close dates.

Figure 2 Proposed framework for MOOC implementation for CME.

Notes: *LMS is a platform that hosts and tracks data related to MOOCs, e.g., learner’s registration, knowledge assessment, certification, content management, and other “back-end” services. MOOCs can also run without LMS if they do not involve – tracking of learners’ data, e.g., for knowledge assessment or instructor’s interaction.

Abbreviations: MOOCs, massive open online courses; CME, continuing medical education; LMS, learning management system.

Figure 3 Role of global, regional, and local medical societies in providing CME via MOOCs.

Notes: Highly cost-effective and efficient MOOCs can be generated if global or regional medical societies lead and develop content which can then be adapted by country medical associations. However, in many situations, local medical societies may also lead content generation and validation, for example, for many country-specific needs and challenges.

Abbreviations: MOOCs, massive open online courses; CME, continuing medical education.