title: Five-year review of an international clinical research-training program.
abstract: The exponential increase in clinical research has profoundly changed medical sciences. Evidence that has accumulated in the past three decades from clinical trials has led to the proposal that clinical care should not be based solely on clinical expertise and patient values, and should integrate robust data from systematic research. As a consequence, clinical research has become more complex and methods have become more rigorous, and evidence is usually not easily translated into clinical practice. Therefore, the instruction of clinical research methods for scientists and clinicians must adapt to this new reality. To address this challenge, a global distance-learning clinical research-training program was developed, based on collaborative learning, the pedagogical goal of which was to develop critical thinking skills in clinical research. We describe and analyze the challenges and possible solutions of this course after 5 years of experience (2008-2012) with this program. Through evaluation by students and faculty, we identified and reviewed the following challenges of our program: 1) student engagement and motivation, 2) impact of heterogeneous audience on learning, 3) learning in large groups, 4) enhancing group learning, 5) enhancing social presence, 6) dropouts, 7) quality control, and 8) course management. We discuss these issues and potential alternatives with regard to our research and background.
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Discipline of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Claudia Kimie
authors: CK
authors: Suemoto
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Pharmaceutical Care Department, King Khalid Hospital, NGHA, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Sherine
authors: S
authors: Ismail
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Discipline of Internal Medicine and Medical Semiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) Medical School, Ouro Preto, Brazil ; Discipline of Pneumology, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Universitário de Belo Horizonte (Uni-BH), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Paulo César Rodrigues Pinto
authors: PC
authors: Corrêa
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Canadian Centre for Advanced Eye Therapeutics, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors: Faiza
authors: F
authors: Khawaja
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Teodoro
authors: T
authors: Jerves
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Pesantez
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Preventive Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Ana Claudia Camargo Gonçalves
authors: AC
authors: Germani
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Italian Scientific Spine Institute (ISICO), Milan, Italy.
authors: Fabio
authors: F
authors: Zaina
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Hospital Osvaldo Rezende Franco, Betim, Brazil ; Nucleo de Avaliação de Tecnologia em Saude, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors: Augusto Cesar Soares
authors: AC
authors: Dos Santos
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Rheumatology, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors: Ricardo Jorge
authors: RJ
authors: de Oliveira Ferreira
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors: Priyamvada
authors: P
authors: Singh
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors: Judy Vicente
authors: JV
authors: Paulo
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Acupuncture Center, Orthopedics and Traumatology Institute, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Suely Reiko
authors: SR
authors: Matsubayashi
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University Federal of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors: Liliane Pinto
authors: LP
authors: Vidor
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Quintiles Transnational, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Guilherme
authors: G
authors: Andretta
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hospital de Curry Cabral, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, EPE, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Rita
authors: R
authors: Tomás
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Ben Mw
authors: BM
authors: Illigens
authors: Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Felipe
authors: F
authors: Fregni
keywords: biomedical research; critical thinking; distance learning; e-learning; education