The Use of a Small Private Online Course to Allow Educators to Share Teaching Resources Across Diverse Sites: The Future of Psychiatric Case Conferences?

Objective: The authors sought to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating small private online course (SPOC) technology with flipped classroom techniques in order to improve neuroscience education across diverse training sites. Methods: Post-graduate medical educators used SPOC web conferencing software and video technology to implement an integrated case conference and in-depth neuroscience discussion. Results: Ten psychiatry training programs from across the USA and from two international sites took part in the conference. Feedback from participants was largely positive. Conclusion: This pilot demonstrated the feasibility of such a program and provided a diverse audience with the opportunity to engage in an interactive learning experience with expert faculty discussants. This may be a useful model for programs with limited local expertise to expand their teaching efforts in a wide range of topics.