Creating Online Training for Procedures in Global Health with PEARLS (Procedural Education for Adaptation to Resource-Limited Settings)

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Nov;97(5):1285-1288. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0936. Epub 2017 Aug 18.

Abstract

The authors describe a multiinstitutional collaborative project to address a gap in global health training by creating a free online platform to share a curriculum for performing procedures in resource-limited settings. This curriculum called PEARLS (Procedural Education for Adaptation to Resource-Limited Settings) consists of peer-reviewed instructional and demonstration videos describing modifications for performing common pediatric procedures in resource-limited settings. Adaptations range from the creation of a low-cost spacer for inhaled medications to a suction chamber for continued evacuation of a chest tube. By describing the collaborative process, we provide a model for educators in other fields to collate and disseminate procedural modifications adapted for their own specialty and location, ideally expanding this crowd-sourced curriculum to reach a wide audience of trainees and providers in global health.

MeSH terms

  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Crowdsourcing
  • Curriculum*
  • Global Health
  • Health Education*
  • Health Resources
  • Humans
  • Internet*