Palliative care clinicians and online education in India: a survey.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Whether online resources can facilitate spread of palliative care knowledge and skills in India is an urgent question given few providers and a large, ageing population. OBJECTIVES: We surveyed needs and feasibility regarding e-learning. METHODS: Indian, Australian and North American palliative care experts developed an electronic survey using Qualtrics, emailed to all registrants of the 2017 Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) conference and distributed during the conference. RESULTS: Of 60 respondents (66% men, 60% doctors), most worked in hospitals and had oncology backgrounds, and 35% were from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Most (90.9%) received palliative care training in India or overseas with 41% trained in a Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences residential course (4-6 weeks). 17% completed the IAPC essential certificate and 22% had undertaken various distance learning courses. Interest in online training was substantial for most aspects of palliative care. CONCLUSION: There was a high level of interest and reported feasibility in taking a case-based online course. This pilot survey provides support for online case-based education in India, particularly among physicians.