Summary
St John’s DermAcademy (DermAcademy) (https://www.stjohnsdermacademy.com) is the first organisation of its kind run by, and for, multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals (HCPs), to provide high quality dermatology education to improve patient care. An expert multidisciplinary team (MDT) of clinicians, specialist nurses, pharmacists, psychologists and invited national and international speakers delivers dermatology education via multiple modalities, including face-to-face and online virtual courses and podcasts. Educational content is tailored to HCPs in primary and secondary care, including dermatology consultants, trainees, GPs, nurses, and allied health professionals. Feedback is consistently excellent. In 2020, DermAcademy: delivered a series of five live webinar courses for HCPs on a range of dermatology topics, with international attendance; delivered the Clinical Dermatology Care Course for Nurses via a new online platform, with online modules and seven live study days; launched a series of open-access dermatology education podcasts for clinicians; delivered a patient and public involvement (PPI) webinar, in collaboration with the Psoriasis Association, on the impact of COVID-19 on people with psoriasis. It also expanded online open-access dermatology educational resources for patients, with the DermAcademy team contributing to three patient education videos on how to apply occlusive dressings, paste bandages, and wet wraps.
Method
A multidisciplinary strategic working group was formed to develop the project using a systematic framework and business model. The strategic vision was shared with the senior academic and clinical leadership team and management, and a business case demonstrated the potential for income generation and sustainability. Partnerships with industry provided funding without influence on the content or delivery of the educational activities. Income generated was used to maintain and improve provision of dermatology education for HCPs (event costs, salaries of the core team and improvements like a purpose-designed webinar platform). It also supported the education and professional development of trainees/nurses/MDT with bursaries to facilitate attendance at DermAcademy or external courses and international meetings, as well as supporting the DermAcademy clinical fellow for Postgraduate certificate in Medical Education. The core DermAcademy MDT comprises a dermatology consultant (2PAs), clinical fellow (50%FTE), two nurse consultants (part time) and an administrator. This team has grown as DermAcademy has expanded. The core team is supported by the executive committee, comprising a range of expert multi-disciplinary clinicians/medical educators. Progress is continually assessed by the core DermAcademy team in weekly meetings and quarterly executive committee meetings. Webinars are hosted on Zoom and a purpose-designed webinar platform. Eventbrite is used for course bookings. Financial outcomes are measured by an assessment of budget, including annual profit/growth and bursaries provided (Microsoft Excel). Educational content is assessed via online questionnaires, using SurveyMonkey for user feedback, Eventbrite for user demographic data, and Buzzsprout for podcast user data.
Results
In 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, DermAcademy delivered educational courses to 145 dermatology consultants, 402 trainees/clinical fellows and 143 nurses. It delivered a series of five live educational webinar courses for HCPs, with international attendance, including: a high intensity Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE) revision course; a dermoscopy course; a psoriasis therapeutics masterclass; an advanced cutaneous oncology course, and a Hidradenitis Suppurativa masterclass. The average attendance at each webinar was 175 clinicians (range 138-199) and delegates attended from 27 countries. A study course, Clinical Dermatology Care Course for Nurses, was run for 40 delegates. The podcast series received >3000 global downloads across 51 countries (including 2073 in the UK, 89 in the United States and 59 in Australia). DermAcademy shared evidence-based local guidelines so external HCPs could implement them locally to improve patient care. Providing accessible dermatology education upskilled the workforce. For example, training nurses in skin biopsies led to improved efficiency in skin cancer services, while upskilling and inspiring staff nurses in dermatology care led to career progression to become clinical nurse specialists. Providing high quality, GP-focused dermatology education empowered them to treat dermatological conditions appropriately in the community, close to home, reducing unnecessary referrals and waiting lists for patients who required secondary care. The SCE revision course, alongside other courses, supported trainees to prepare for independent practice as consultants. The networking opportunities provided by face-to-face courses were recreated virtually through the personal messaging function on the newly designed webinar platform. In response to the concerns of patients in medical dermatology clinics, a free, openly accessible patient and public involvement webinar, entitled ‘Psoriasis, COVID-19 and Me’ was developed and delivered. DermAcademy also contributed to three patient education videos on how to apply occlusive dressings, paste bandages and wet wraps. Income from DermAcademy has supported: two trainees in the Post-graduate Certificate in Clinical Education; discounted attendance for trainees/students at all DermAcademy events and international conference attendance for trainees through competitive application, plus one annual post-certificate of completion of training (CCT) fellowship in Medical Education/Medical Dermatology at St John’s Institute of Dermatology.
Sustainability and Spread
Several industry partners have been committed to the project since 2017 and new partners are interested in joining each year; contracts are renewed annually. The infrastructure has grown over the last four years, with provision of salaried protected time for the core DermAcademy team. Partnerships with professional and charitable organisations (including Psychoderm UK, The Psoriasis Association, DEBRA) are established and continue to grow. New courses, including one on paediatric dermatology, are in development. The educational content is integrated with the Royal College of Physicians through quality assessment/CPD points. Similar points for nursing professional development accreditation are in process. This content has an established and growing international reach. The DermAcademy website saw visits increase by 50% in 2020, compared with 2019. This is a sustainable model for delivery of speciality-specific medical education. The aim is to empower colleagues in other medical specialties to emulate the multi-disciplinary model to improve provision of medical education more broadly; ophthalmology colleagues have asked for advice. Experiences of delivering innovative dermatology education resources provide important shared learning opportunities. Podcasts and webinars have real potential to provide accessible, evidence-based dermatology education in the future.
