Assessment of the current level of digitalization in the process of training medical personnel

Introduction. The widespread use of modern digital technologies allows increasing the effectiveness of the educational process, provides new opportunities for the operational design of the learning environment in accordance with the emergence of new knowledge and technologies.

The purpose of the study: to assess the current level of digitalization of continuing medical education according to the participants of the educational process (teachers and students), and the potential for the introduction of digital technologies in the process of training medical personnel.

Materials and methods. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of two hundred fifty two medical students and 122 teachers from medical education institutions of Moscow and Moscow region was conducted; also, 10 in-depth interviews with health care managers and experts were conducted as part of qualitative sociological analysis in April–June, 2023.

Results. Respondents (91.0% of teachers and 87.7% of students) classified e-learning tools (e-libraries, knowledge control programs) as digital technologies. The positive impact of digital technologies on the quality of learning was noted by 58.2% of teachers and 65.9% of students. When assessing the extent to which digital technologies are used in everyday practice, 95.9% of teachers indicated that they use digital learning tools regularly, with 69.7% using them constantly. 61.9% of learners responded that they would choose a regular class with a teacher in the classroom and only 10.3% of respondents chose online classes or self-study using e-learning programs.

Research limitations. The study took respondents from two regions of Moscow and the Moscow region, in the future it is planned to study the assessment of the current level of digitalization of continuing medical education in all regions of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion. The conducted research has shown digitalization to have entered the professional medical education quite widely, the trainees have a positive attitude to the use of digital technologies, but they are not going to give up traditional methods of training. Training of medical personnel using modern technologies is extremely important for improving the quality of medical determinant of public health.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the Interuniversity Ethics Committee of Moscow, protocol No. 4 of 13.04.2023. All reviewers signed informed consent to participate in the study.

Contribution of the authors:
Kuznetsova O.V. — research concept and design, research design development, data analysis and interpretation, text writing;
Russkikh S.V. — scientific counseling, research concept and design, data analysis and interpretation, text writing, editing;
Tarasenko E.A. — drafting of the article manuscript, data analysis and interpretation;
Moskvicheva L.I. — data analysis and interpretation;
Gorbacheva N.A. — data collection, data analysis and interpretation, text writing;
Smbatyan S.M. — data analysis and interpretation;
Saprykin V.P. — data collection;
Gavva R.V. — data collection.
All authors — are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: July 11, 2023 / Revised: January 15, 2024 / Accepted: March 19, 2024 / Published: June 28, 2024