Abstract:

Background:
Psychiatry Registrars in Ireland rotate placement every six months, and General Practitioner (GP) trainees every four months during their Basic Training Scheme. Some of this cohort will never have worked in Psychiatry previously prior to their commencement in the placement. The limited experience and knowledge of the specialty can cause significant disruption to both efficient service provision and patient care. Previous Irish studies have found that junior doctors find on-call commitments significantly stressful, with many identifying lack of induction as a major factor. Former induction for Psychiatry placements in St Vincent’s University Hospital Dublin, one of the worlds leading academic teaching hospitals, was based predominantly on face-to-face didactic teaching. However, feedback received from an initial pilot demonstrated an appetite for a user-friendly online induction program.

Aims:
We aimed to develop an eLearning resource to compliment local induction for Psychiatry trainees and to standardize induction so it could be implemented in multiple hospital sites. This online induction was designed to cater to incoming trainees to allow for safer transition in the role of a Psychiatry Registrar and to ensure awareness of their roles, supports and that they are equipped to work in the new clinical setting. The eLearning was also designed as a tool that could be accessed by trainees again in the future if needed.

Method:
The project was carried out using a mixed methods approach to best capture trainee responses and outcomes of the induction. This involved in-depth exit qualitative semi-structured interviews and exit quantitative surveys from off-boarding trainees for feedback on the induction. Extensive stakeholder consultation regarding the relevance, design and user-friendliness of content was conducted. The induction was designed using a blend of both in-person training and the eLearning that could be accessed at multiple time points. The new induction was delivered to incoming trainees and post-intervention measurements were ascertained by online surveys.

Results:
From our pilot use of the eLearning resource in 2023, written feedback was collected in which all surveyed reported finding it helpful in complimenting the local induction process, found the content relevant, felt it was an efficient use of time and found it interactive. Following the current induction iteration, results from semi-structured interviews from trainees were analyzed through content and narrative analysis. All interviews conveyed themes of “stress” and a sense of “feeling underprepared”. Post-intervention measurements were ascertained by online surveys. There was 16 trainees overall and of these 37% had never worked in Psychiatry previously. In total, 94% reported they accessed the online eLearning unit and 86% of these found it easy to navigate. All those who accessed the unit reported they found it helpful in complimenting the current induction process and all found the content covered was relevant. The vast majority felt it was interactive and an efficient use of their time. The majority stated they felt more confident following the online induction to do a on-call shift in the Emergency Department.

Conclusion:
From the feedback obtained, the eLearning proved itself to be a useful entity. It allowed for preparation to be carried out prior to in-person training and also offered the option for revisiting information in the future if needed.

Keywords:

Technology, education, digital transformation of education, online resources, induction, development, healthcare, mental health.