ANZCA enhances medical training with D2L Brightspace implementation

Implementing D2L Brightspace since March 2014, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) has succeeded in providing a learner-centric educational experience to their members. ANZCA unites medical professionals across the two countries, providing the necessities for excellence. With this initiative, ANZCA supports 87% of anaesthetists in Australia and New Zealand.

ANZCA is the professional organisation for specialist anaesthetists and anaesthetists in training. One of Australasia's largest specialist medical colleges, ANZCA undertakes the training, examination, and accreditation of anaesthetists and upholds the standards of clinical practice in Australia and New Zealand. Anaesthesiology, a complex and highly regulated field requires specialist training and development programs to ensure high-quality care, and ANZCA delivers precisely that to its members.

ANZCA's membership includes over 7,000 fully certified anaesthetists and 3,000 trainee doctors, providing a diverse range of education and training services. More than 6,000 specialist anaesthetists and 460 specialist pain medicine physicians who have met the institution's rigorous training and assessment requirements to become a fellow are also a key part of the organisation. "The associations fellows are among the most highly regarded specialist physicians in the world," notes Colin Lynas, learning technology specialist at ANZCA.

By introducing a new structure for self-directed learning, ANZCA has been able to identify the courses most vital to their members and continually offer them. Utilising a self-directed learning experience has enabled our members to focus their educational experience on developing skills they require," Mr. Lynas explained.

To drive their training programs, ANZCA provides competency-based digital learning experiences specifically tailored to its member community. Both certified anaesthetists and trainees benefit immensely from the professional development courses ANZCA offers. Although initially starting with access to their material only through memberships, ANZCA now offers limited course access to non-members for a fee through Course Merchant.

Due to the D2L Brightspace learning management system (LMS), ANZCA has seen year-on-year growth in its course's uptake. Between 2022 and the end of 2023, there was a 10% increase in active users, with about 1,800 users logging in every month, a figure that shows no signs of decline. This increase firmly showcases that ANZCA is providing valuable and engaging learning experiences to anaesthetists across Australia and New Zealand.

By embracing the self-directed learning capabilities of the Brightspace platform, ANZCA has found new ways to personalise the learning experiences they offer. The association has also been able to offer more fellowship courses that its members demand. ANZCA uses the D2L platform for a range of purposes, extending from facilitating practice tests and examinations to allowing feedback on the course material.

An added advantage of using the D2L Brightspace platform, for ANZCA, is its decentralized admin support structure. It has enabled course administrators direct control over their own materials without the need for any programming experience. Regardless of the device used to access the courses, this innovative platform has contributed to building a more flexible learning environment.

Mr. Lynas concludes, "Our goal is to deliver the best education experience for all our learners. Thanks to the D2L platform, we're able to offer an engaging, self-directed education program that empowers healthcare professionals throughout the region to enhance their skills."