Doctors.net.uk expands its online educational resources for doctors

As time pressed doctors increasingly turn to the internet for education, Doctors.net.uk – the UK's largest online network of doctors, which is part of M3 Europe – has launched a new set of resources that are designed to support their formal NHS training.

The new videos feature three procedures that all doctors are expected to be able to perform before being signed off for completion of their mandatory two-year Foundation Programme – namely a central line insertion, paracentesis and thoracentesis.

The videos are designed to support locally delivered teaching and provide an aide-memoir for doctors as they gain practical experience in emergency departments and hospital wards. They reflect the fact that in recent years, more and more doctors have turned to the internet for educational purposes, ranging from formal Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses to conference highlights.

This trend, which has been driven by time and money constraints, has opened up new opportunities for pharma to engage with doctors by, for example, sponsoring education modules, videos or research papers. This kind of activity can work effectively alongside promotional tactics, provided it meets the ABPI or EFPIA Code.

A recent survey of doctors in the top five European countries shows that doctors welcome this kind of support from pharma, since 'provide more education', 'do less of a hard sell' and 'be more human' were on the wish list of things that they would like from the industry.

By providing resources that doctors really need in their clinical practice, rather than solely pushing promotional sales messages, pharma can begin to develop a more customer-centric 'pull' approach. This can help brand teams to break down some of the barriers that exist between pharma and doctors, and build a more trusting and transparent relationship. The most important outcome of all these activities is improved patient experience, patient safety and better care.

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