This resource will help you to either:
- Help in porting (re-purposing and editing) existing content as open source resources
- Gradually develop and expand complementary content such as images, video or simulator construction instructions
- Collaborate with new partners on improving existing modules
About the modules[edit | edit source]
The Challenge aims to create a paradigm shift in the way surgical training is delivered by giving surgical practitioners access to freely accessible training modules that will allow them to assess their own skills. The current paradigm sees simulation-based training take place in a classroom setting. We want to shift the focus on to self-assessment; allowing surgical practitioners the ability to learn new skills and test their own skills acquisition independently. So along with the development of new training models, modules need a self-assessment frameworks that allow surgical practitioners the ability to test their own skills acquisition outside of a classroom.
Ultimately, we aim to populate an online community platform with surgical training modules. These modules will contain all the know-how needed to create and build the surgical training model, perform the training and assess skills acquisition. These open-source modules will be validated by both the competing team and through an external validation process, to ensure modules effectively teach outlined skills.
- Self-assessment: Each surgical simulation model will be accompanied by a self-assessment framework, allowing surgical practitioners to test their newly acquired skills.
- Open source: All modules (the model, know-how for build and training materials) will be free to download online from the Global Surgical Training Community platform.
- Low-cost: In resource-constrained settings globally, many surgical practitioners are unable to access low-cost, simulation-based training. Due to a lack of access to cadavers, animal models or simulation-based training, many surgical practitioners undertake procedures for the first time on patients.
Why open-source?[edit | edit source]
Open source is defined as referring to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly available.
The purpose of simulating low-cost open-source modules through this platform is to help surgical practitioners to learn and assess new skills to improve the health of their communities using simulated environments. The Challenge aims to create a paradigm shift in how surgical practitioners learn and assess surgical techniques especially in resource constrained areas.
What is the greater impact?[edit | edit source]
The most comprehensive surgical training programs rely on access to cadavers, live animal training models and expensive simulation-based training. Without access to such training, surgical practitioners in resource-constrained settings often have less hands on experience before they are expected to operate on patients. Through this platform, we want to shift this learning into simulation-based training. We want to focus on self-assessments; allowing surgical practitioners the ability to learn new skills and test their own skills acquisition independently. So along with the development of new training models, competitors in the Challenge will be asked to create self-assessment frameworks that allow surgical practitioners the ability to test their own skills acquisition outside of a classroom.
Getting Started with content creation[edit | edit source]
Learning a new platform and creating content for learners on it can be overwhelming. Don't worry! We got you. This guide focuses on having the requirements checked out and putting together all the prerequisite documentation available so you can seamlessly build your surgical training modules.
Before diving into the checklist, we want to discuss some terminologies that we will be continuously using throughout our guides. They are as follows:
Who is accessing these modules?[edit | edit source]
Knowing who will access these modules allows us to shape it in a way for them to understand. There are two types of users - content creators and learners. Content creators are surgical organizations like you and learners are the group of people you develop content for.
Content / Module Creators[edit | edit source]
Content / Module Creators are teams, organizations or surgeons that create these learning modules. They are skilled professionals who will provide information, simulations tools & assessment tools for learners to learn these skills through appropedia.
Learners[edit | edit source]
Learners (or the Learning group) are the users of these training modules. These are people who use these training sessions to acquire the skills remotely and use them on patients. There are two types of learners the modules will be focusing on depending on training modules and learner skill set, they are:
- Surgical Learners - If the modules you build are focused on surgical training, then the learners will be surgical learners.
- Prehospital Trauma Learners - Prehospital Trauma Learners will be the learners being trained on prehospital hemorrhage management by the given modules.
Some examples of these learner groups would be medical professionals, on-site volunteers at medical camps, emergency staff, nursing staff, etc.
- Example Surgical Learner specification: Learners could be community surgeons or surgical residents from a specialty that does not include the target surgical procedure in its traditional training such as orthopaedic, general surgery or GYN residents/community surgeons learning a plastics procedure or plastics or general surgery residents/community surgeons learning an orthopaedic procedure.
- Example Prehospital Trauma Learner specification: Learners could be community members or first responders with no previous training or field experience in hemorrhage control.
Here is a guide on how to make a learner description.
The Toolbox[edit | edit source]
This part of the guide is very important as it focuses on how to edit, organize and create content for your simulations that maximizes the learning and impact of your work
Framing and creating modules[edit | edit source]
This part of the guide focuses on how to create surgical training modules using pre-defined templates and how to edit content in appropedia.
Using Templates[edit | edit source]
Preloaded pages are automated templates that we created so you can avoid starting a page from scratch.
Every preloaded page is designed to contain the basic elements you need to adequately document and share knowledge from a certain category. To use these preloaded pages:
- Type the page title into the corresponding text box. Be as specific as you can and check that your spelling is accurate.
- Click on the Create button and wait for the page to load. A new preloaded page will appear.
- Edit all meta information contained on the databoxes. These are the teal-colored boxes to the right of each page which help organize pages into indexable knowledge sources with many cool features such as improve discoverability.
- Determine the category your page will belong to. All pages need to be organized into adequate categories, so make sure to double check the right category at the bottom of every page after your first save.
All you need after these steps is to modify the content according to the topic you are creating. You may also add any other elements you want. Always remember to save your progress!
You can see this video on how to create a training module using these templates.
Content Editing[edit | edit source]
All resources are organized in seven categories, each one dedicated to a useful tool for the competition activities Each category contains a list of related topics. When you click on a topic, a list of links will appear.
Using Appropedia: Tutorials and recommendations on using Appropedia, creating content and uploading resources.
Design and writing: Style guidelines for writing proposals and implementing design thinking on your projects.
Audiovisual: Tutorials and suggestions in case you need to take pictures, create video or record audio for your projects.
Digital and physical design: Tools and instructions in case you need to implement 3D simulations and digital reality on your projects.
Online work and collaboration: Tools and best practices for online teamwork, mentoring and collaboration.
Education: Guidelines and articles on creating effective education texts, assessments and resources.
Data and digital: Tools and best practices in case you need to implement data science and artificial intelligence on your projects.
This is a list of internal and external resources for the Global Surgical Training Challenge.
Do I need to master all categories for the Challenge? No. This is a list of tools, recommendations and tutorials you may use while participating in the competition. This Toolbox removes the need for you look for this information on your own and provides easy access whenever you need it.
THIS IS NOT A SYLLABUS YOU MUST LEARN BY HEART. Use these page as you would use a toolbox in real life: take what you need, hone your skills and don't be afraid to try new things.
Search for resources[edit | edit source]
Creating Surgical Training Content[edit | edit source]
Importing Existing Content to Appropedia[edit | edit source]
If you are a partner and want to work with us by linking your trainings to our global surgical community. We can help you move content from your pages to Appropedia. Here are some ways you can do that:
Importing Pages from another Wiki page
Importing content from a Website
Phase Based Content Creation Approach[edit | edit source]
When creating module content, you want to consider some pointers which include not overwhelming the user with too much content and organizing module in a way that it can be easily navigated. A tried and tested way of doing this is Phase-based content approach. The typical phases in which syllabus can be organized could be as follows:
- Phase 1 - Knowledge Review Covers a crash course on topics and concepts needed to simulate the surgical environment
- Phase 2 - Simulation Build Process of replicating the simulation environment using videos, tutorials and detailed guidance
- Phase 3 - Skills Practice Once the learner has the simulations, they need to learn to practice the surgical skills that they would be performing in the real world
- Phase 4 - Self Assessment Before actually performing these skills on humans, we want to allow the learner to gain confidence in their learning by providing them some self assessment tools.
Some of our GSTC teams that have been able to impart knowledge using this approach are:
Self Assessment[edit | edit source]
In the above section, we talked about self-assessment as a phase of learning while building content for surgical training. Let's discuss it a little more in detail with examples of some self assessment modules available on Global Surgical Training Challenge Modules.
Self assessment is an important part of the open source surgical training as it allows the learner to assess their standing and gain confidence in the skills they have learned.
It can be in the form of a series of multiple choice questions or case-based assessment that gives them multiple scenarios to practice these skills.
Some examples of self assessment learning modules are as follows:
Technologies to create simulations for surgical trainings middle income countries[edit | edit source]
In order to be able to understand how to create simulations, we need to first understand what is a simulation?
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. In surgical training environments we are using open source simulations to build hardware and software models of human body systems for learners to practice surgical skills before performing them in real life. This allows users to create low-cost learning environments especially in low income and resource constrained settings. Simulations can be hardware as well as made on software applications to be accessed via web.
Hardware Simulations
When it comes to hardware simulations, some technologies that can be used are 3D printers, mannequins, AED models, etc. These technologies help simulate real life human body models to practice surgical skills on.
Software Simulations
As the world is growing, virtual simulations of surgical training have become very common using virtual reality, augmented reality or mobile phone apps. If you have software simulations that you want the user to access, make sure that they are available to access for users through all platforms.
If it is a web application, be sure it is hosted online for anyone to access remotely. To host web based simulators, you will need a website, a domain and a hosting service. Make sure you are not providing a local computer link for web simulations. You can find out more about making websites publicly available here.
If you are building apps, make sure that they are available on Google Playstore and App Store for Android and Apple users respectively. We know that uploading an application on the App Store is more tricky than on Google Playstore, therefore, we also recommend considering an alternative mentioned below. Note that the app's functionality on the alternative will not be as good with respect to the real app but it will be closed since we are testing it on a simulated platform.
Follow steps to make the app live on Google Playstore
Follow these steps to make the app live on App Store
Follow these steps to upload the app on a web based android emulator (for apple users if you cannot make the app live on App Store)
You can also get your open-source content certified. An example of a platform that helps you do that is this
Good Practices[edit | edit source]
When creating content, we know that thinking creatively and out-of-the box helps. Some good practices that we have highlighted to making more structured and easy to learn are:
- Goals of the module
- Using Sandbox
- Syllabus Formation
- Media
- Case Based Learning
- Keywords Optimization
- Plan B in Resource-Constrained Settings
- Glossary
- References Citations
- Checklist of Deliverables
Advanced Topics[edit | edit source]
Once you have created content and learned how to use the Appropedia platform to publish your modules, you need to also look into the accessibility part of it. Some of the advanced topics in our guide will help you achieve that goal.
Keyword and Search Engine Optimization[edit | edit source]
There are certain pointers we must consider in terms of content organization and publishing that help people find modules more effectively, both on Appropedia and other search engines. This technique is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Our guide here focuses on the following very important and effective SEO techniques:
- Page Content Optimization
- Naming Conventions
- Headings
- URLs
- Linking
- Content Organization
- Team Names
- Third Party Advertising
- Keyword Tagging
Support[edit | edit source]
If you have any questions or encounter any technical difficulty while navigating Appropedia, feel free to discuss it on the GSTC Talk page. You can also contact us directly at support@appropedia.org. We're always happy to hear from you and will reply as soon as possible.
