The destructive second wave of COVID-19 in India highlighted the shortage of healthcare workers. Paramedics form the backbone of the healthcare workforce, comprising over 70%. In 2019, the shortfall of paramedic workers was estimated at around 6M+. The shortage of paramedics remains a critical challenge for India. Moreover, despite Indian physicians making their mark globally, much of the existing paramedic staff still don’t have formal training or a government certification.
Further compounding the problem, current paramedic workers are concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural areas with a dearth of quality care. Partnership between traditional colleges anded-tech training providers imparting paramedic training is a fast and efficient way to bridge this critical demand-supply gap. This will help India ramp up its overall training capacity while meeting quality standards in rural as well as urban areas
Ed-tech training providers can redefine how paramedic training is imparted. There needs to be a shift from traditional “supply driven” training to “industry-demand driven” training. Traditional healthcare training providers often resort to outdated textbooks and superfluous course content. However, the need of the hour is precise, targeted course content that will help one be successful on the job. This content must keep evolving to ensure that it captures the latest clinical practices and technologies.
Ed-tech healthcare companies understand the importance of providing industry-demand driven training. For instance, industry players have started to develop their course content along with doctors and academicians incorporating insights from hospital and OEM partners. Moreover, they are also optimising online learning to ensure that student outcomes are maximised through digitising the content in various formats and automating assessments real-time along with gamifying the learning modules.
With the explosion of ed-tech, learning has now become varied as different players use different pedagogical modules to teach students. One player might use an application to provide one-on-one live classes, while another might provide a virtual classroom-like set-up through a website. The shift from offline to online learning needs to be swift and must take into consideration the importance of incorporating practical learning. Students must go through internships and other live on-the-job training experiences at hospitals even if the course is delviered online.
This will be key to improve student outcomes. The ability to shift from classroom teaching to online learning is a must and not only important for the periods of lockdown, but also to expand the reach to smaller cities and even rural areas.
The writer is Founder and CEO at Virohan
