Connecting Ni Paediatricians Online

ABSTRACT

Aims Northern Irish paediatric trainees are accustomed to moving to a new trust every 6 months, and in turn having to re-learn management of common conditions based on local guidelines. Following feedback and audit evidence of significant variation in management of common paediatric conditions throughout Northern Ireland (NI), the trainee-led NI Paediatric Education Audit and Research network (NI PEAR) have successfully produced regionally approved guidelines to help standardise care across trusts. The NI PEAR committee recognised there were no resources available for trainees to facilitate easy access to this material and set about creating and launching our own website (www.nipear.squarespace.com). We wanted to create a NI paediatrics trainee hub where guidelines, educational resources, course information and event reminders can be easily accessed. Methods The NI PEAR committee developed a website using the platform 'Squarespace'. The website was designed to be easily navigable with a home page linking to the most frequently used content, a section outlining our aims as a group and a dedicated guidelines page. Regional NI guidelines and links to external guidelines are available whilst we continue to develop our guideline portfolio. Multiple education sections advertise ongoing learning opportunities available to trainees. There are numerous areas for those visiting the website to submit their request for a guideline to be uploaded and to suggest or show interest in audit and research opportunities. Results The NI PEAR website went 'live' in December 2021 and has proved to be extremely popular with NI Trainees to date. The site received over 500 hits within the first few weeks of launch and has been supported by consultants in the region. We conducted an online survey which showed 100% of trainees who responded previously having difficulties locating guidelines in a timely manner, 100% stating a regional hub for guidelines and training information is useful and 82% finding that the website has enhanced their experience as a trainee in its first version. Conclusion Modern Technology is becoming increasingly integrated into the trainee experience. We have all witnessed a shift in approaches to teaching, meetings and how we receive our information since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. Yet, harnessing this technology to improve the trainee experience is something we receive no formal training on. We, as a group of trainees, have taken the initiative to build a platform tailored to our needs. It is designed to be the one stop hub for paediatrics in NI, whether that's checking when the next PICU telelink is, or at 3am when you have a sick child and need to access a guideline. Through this project, we will be able to improve the standard of care delivered to our paediatric population in NI with regional guidance and improve the experience of our trainees by giving everyone access to the same resources. Most importantly, this is a resource created by trainees, for trainees, giving us somewhere to interact with each other's work, to collaborate and build a robust network of paediatricians in NI.