E-learning for medical education: reflections of learners on patients

Introduction There is a growing research interest in how healthcare professionals learn online. This paper reports an analysis of reflections that relate to patients from users of an e-learning resource, BMJ Learning. Methods Healthcare professionals who use BMJ Learning are encouraged to reflect on their learning. Over one year, all of the learners' reflections that related to patients were captured by the programme's software and were analysed using thematic analysis. Results A number of key themes emerged from this analysis: many learners reflected on patients in the context of their disease; many learners reflected on how they had put their learning into action or planned to put their learning into action for the benefit of patients; many learners reflected on how they would pass on what they had learned to patients; learners greatly appreciated patients contributing to the learning. Discussion Learners predominantly reflect about patients in the context of their disease. The reflections demonstrate that learners are keen to put their learning into action for the benefit of their patients. Learners' reflections show a keen interest in the patient-centredness of the learning resources.