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2. Provide an educational needs assessment
Providers should provide a statement about educational needs. This might include a survey to
identify needs, evidence of a lack of appropriate educational material relating to a particular
topic/group of topics or evidence of a need for more e-learning for physicians.
3. Provide learning objectives which are appropriate for the target audience
For large products such as these we understand that the objectives are likely to be broad and
generic but please summarise the objectives for your product.
4. Provide high quality content
The content must represent current evidence-based best practice and must be able to deliver the
stated learning objectives.
5. Provide evidence that key authors or editors have appropriate specialist skills and knowledge
A statement relating to key editors and authors should be provided. This should detail how authors
are selected. We do not expect a complete list of authors with their qualifications. The information
provided might be the organisation’s policy relating to editors and/or authors, with a statement to
the effect that the organisation audits compliance with the policy and that there has been a high
level of compliance with the policy. For e-platforms please provide a brief biographical statement (a
few lines) for the lead author of each module.
6. Include active learning methods (e-platforms)
For e-platforms, there should be clear evidence of active learning techniques such as questions
during the modules and encouragement to reflect on practice.
7. There should be evidence that all legal, medico-legal and ethical considerations are met
These include: copyright, patient consent for clinical materials used, patient confidentiality and
data protection.
8. Any support, sponsorship or involvement of a commercial organisation such as a pharmaceutical
or device company must be declared in the product and must not influence the structure or
content of the e-learning
Any sponsorship must be in the form of an unrestricted educational grant and must also be
declared on the application form. There must be no advertising in the e-learning material and
commercial logos are not permitted.
The product will not be approved if there is bias towards use of any commercial product that does
not represent current evidence-based practice. Generic names of pharmaceutical products must be
used throughout rather than proprietary names, unless this is a regulatory prescribing requirement
to use the proprietary name.
9. Any competing interest on the part of the provider must be declared.
A senior person from the provider organisation, usually a senior clinician, should complete a
Declaration of Interest Form on behalf of themselves and the provider organisation.
10. Learner engagement and evaluation
Providers should describe how learner engagement will be monitored or assessed. A method of
monitoring educational activity is mandatory for the approval of e-libraries. There should be a