With RespiratoryEdu and SleepEdu partner, Mark Rasmus, MD.
VIDEO SCRIPT
We are giving a little summary of course production and how we work as a tightly knit group to find, discuss and review topics that might be of interest to you, our audience.
First we consider our audience, which is predominantly Sleep Technologists, Respiratory Therapists and Durable Medical Equipment staff. Then we look through our catalog, to determine the following:
- What are new and engaging topics that have not yet been covered before?
- What are other areas that have evolved and changes that we need to update?
- And what are some other areas that are directly or indirectly related to sleep medicine that we can step in and fill a gap?
For example, topics could be something along the lines of cardiac care, managing chronic pain and its relationship to sleep medicine and underlying sleep disorders. So then we brainstorm together, generally we have monthly or quarterly meetings where we sit down and come up with a list of topics. Generally, we all agree if this is a good or bad idea to proceed and then we look around the group to determine who would be the best person, or the most qualified person to address such a topic. And then one of us steps forward or we all point a finger to someone who’d be the best fit and interested to produce such a course. Then as the medical director, or the physician on the board, I do some of the background work including conducting a literature search to help find related sources that I’d look up independently to research a topic and I would then share those resources with the primary course writer.
Once the course has been written, at that point in time, we have a group of editors that will review and edit the course content. When it comes to courses that have a medical spin on them, I will edit all of those courses and then there will be an additional editor involved in well during this phase. Once the topic has been edited for course content, then we begin to plan production by determining how will this course be best shared with our subscribers. Sometimes it’s best in a conversational format recorded in a podcast, sometimes it’s best as a PowerPoint presentation with audio voiceovers that is telling the story behind the course objectives, and other times they’re best as written modules that someone can work through independently and ask questions, stop and restart, and complete the module on their own.
We’ve gotten more and more savvy over the years in terms of different formats of production. Even as I work on this video today, we’re working on different techniques to best capture the message we’re trying to deliver. What’s important to realize that the catalog of topics and conversations that we discuss is a collaborative effort. Not only in terms of what we want to discuss but also in terms of how we produce and construct whatever material we’re presenting. It’s not just one, but all of us, to put together a product that we think represents a physician’s interest, a clinician’s interest and anyone else that might be working with our sleep medicine patients.
Obviously, accreditation is of the utmost importance to you, our customers. Certainly without CEUs, there’s less motivation to take these courses. So we do work with BRPT and the AARC on working to getting our courses accredited so our audience can get the appropriate and required credit for the CEUs, as well as the work they’re putting in to the knowledge that they’re gaining.
Thank you very much and by all means reach out to us if there’s topics you’d like us to look into, research or discuss.
