Overall, COVID-19 was a very challenging time for the healthcare industry. However, despite all the lockdowns and mask-wearing that were de rigueur in hospitals and medical centres at the time, healthcare education thrived.

It did this, in large part, thanks to various technologies, including online collaboration tools that allowed students to continue their education remotely.

Since then, the value of e-learning for healthcare has become recognised as being beneficial not just for students but also for more seasoned healthcare workers.

Ultimately, many companies see it as a great way for employees to remain up-to-date with their professional development, widen their skills and knowledge base, communicate with their colleagues, and even receive a new qualification.

However, not every healthcare organisation has embraced e-learning. So, if yours is still debating whether or not to do so, here are seven benefits and perspectives you should consider.

What is e-learning?

The term e-learning refers to learning that takes place over the medium of the internet, as opposed to through a traditional classroom environment.

It is completed through electronic media and devices and allows students to access and learn their subject matter at any location from which they can achieve a Wi-Fi connection.

Typically, e-learning takes many different forms, including online classes, webinars, interactive lectures, webinars, and web-based learning.

In the context of healthcare education, professionals can tune into broadcasts of live lectures from highly skilled and experienced medical professionals based anywhere in the world, at any time of the night and day.

Additionally, they can register for courses or webinars on very specific subjects or even watch re-runs of past lectures at a time that is more convenient for them.

For instance, Coursera provides access to several courses, including those about cancer or heart disease. These enable healthcare professionals to enhance their understanding of these areas, learn the latest treatment techniques, and even gain a degree qualification in them, which ultimately enables them to reap several career benefits.

Additionally, Modern Healthcare provides several webinars to healthcare facilities that enable them to remain up-to-date with the latest advances and events in healthcare.

At the same time, Best Medical Degrees allow individuals to find institutions that will assist them in obtaining a degree qualification in virtually any field.

Why is e-learning important for the healthcare industry?

The modern healthcare industry is developing at such a rapid pace that medical professionals need to make a conscious effort to keep abreast of the latest regulations, technologies, treatments and certifications.

If they don’t, they risk not being able to provide their patients with the best level of care, treatment, services, and outcomes they otherwise might.

Unfortunately, the nature of the healthcare professional is that they are very busy individuals, as they must perform their primary function of tending to patients. Therefore, if they have to go to a classroom (potentially off-site) physically this can prevent them from devoting enough time to do their job effectively.

For this reason, e-learning for healthcare is an excellent solution. For a start, it is a convenient, efficient, and straightforward way for them to keep up-to-date with the most current best practices for diagnosing and treating patients. In addition, they can decide how and when they want to learn.

Perhaps most importantly, it enables professionals in remote parts of the country or world to access cutting-edge medical knowledge, which they might not otherwise be privy to.

Benefits and Perspectives of e-learning for healthcare

Aside from being more flexible, e-learning for healthcare provides staff within this industry with several benefits over traditional classroom education.

They include the following:

1. Students don’t have to travel or relocate

Maybe the biggest pull of e-learning in healthcare, and for that matter, any subject, is that individuals can register for a course, watch a webinar or enrol in a university without having to travel or relocate.

As they can do it from the comfort of their homes, they do not have to move to another part of the country or spend a significant amount of time travelling to gain the skills, knowledge, and qualifications required to be successful in their careers.

2. Greater flexibility for learning

The great thing about e-learning for healthcare is that it enables people to study when they like, where they like and for however long they like.

Unlike classroom lectures, they are not tied to a specific time slot. Therefore, they can organise their work and family commitments, as well as their social life, around their studies as they see fit.

3. Students can study at the most effective time for them

Some people are morning people, while others are night owls. Conversely, some people study better at various times of the day.

With e-learning for healthcare, you can choose what time of the day you want to stay based on when your brain is most engaged, active and productive.

By learning in this way at your own pace, you are likely to be more successful in your academic pursuits.

4. Less distractions

Physical classroom environments can be distracting, as they are full of people, making it difficult to concentrate on or participate in what is being taught.

By contrast, digital learning can be done in an environment where you do not have any disruptions. This can make it easier for you to maintain focus and share ideas or ask questions. 

5. Content can be viewed on unlimited occasions

In a physical classroom, once the lecture has been given, then, essentially, that’s it. You are left to rely on the notes you make and any handouts you receive from the tutor.

However, with e-learning for healthcare, as this is done online, you can access the information or playback the webinar as often as you want.

This means you can really take the time to understand an aspect of the tuition you didn’t quite grasp the first time around and not be left unsure about what was said.

6. You can keep working while you learn

If you are planning to take a degree course at a university, you will often have to either miss a day or two of work every week or give up work completely for the duration.

With e-learning, you don’t have to make this choice because the flexibility it offers, studying when and where you want, enables you to stay in your job.

This is particularly beneficial for those with mortgages to pay, children to raise or other responsibilities that need to be funded through your pay.

Additionally, it allows healthcare professionals to continue offering a level of care to their patients without feeling like they are abandoning them when studying.

7. E-learning can be customised

Probably the biggest advantage of e-learning is that the content of any given subject can be customised to the student’s needs.

For healthcare professionals, this means that they can draw upon the specific resources they best respond to in a healthcare learning management system, whether that be video or audio lessons, textbooks, worksheets or webinars.

Ultimately, this will help them learn in the ways they most relate to.

FAQs

Here are some answers to questions people frequently ask about the benefits and perspectives of e-learning for healthcare.

What is e-Learning for Healthcare?

Often abbreviated as (e-LfH), e-Learning for Healthcare is a programme offered by Health England Education. Working in conjunction with the NHS and other professional bodies, they support better patient care through e-learning that educates and trains members of the social and healthcare workforce.

What does e-learning do?

Electronic, or e-learning, is a method for delivering training and learning through several different digital resources, including webinars and interactive lectures.