Seven-Year Follow-Up of an Online Critical Care Curriculum

Background: In July of 2013, the University of Maryland launched MarylandCCProject.com. This free-access educational website delivers asynchronous high-quality multidisciplinary critical care education targeted at critical care trainees. The lectures, presented in real time on-site, are recorded and available on the website or as a podcast on iTunes or Android. Thus, the curriculum can be easily accessed around the world.

Objective: We sought to identify the impact this website has on current and former University of Maryland critical care trainees.

Methods: A 32-question survey was generated using a standard survey generation tool. The survey was e-mailed in the fall of 2019 to the University of Maryland Multi-Departmental Critical Care current and graduated trainees from the prior 7 years. Survey data were collected through December 2019. The questions focused on user demographics, overall experience with the website, scope of website use, and clinical application of the content. Anonymous responses were electronically gathered.

Results: A total of 186 current trainees and graduates were surveyed, with a 39% (n = 72) response rate. Of responders, 76% (55) use the website for ongoing medical education. The majority use the website at least monthly. Most users (63%, n = 35) access the lectures directly through the website. All 55 current users agree that the website has improved their medical knowledge and is a useful education resource. Platform use has increased and includes users from around the world.

Conclusion: Based on our current data, the MarylandCCProject remains a valuable and highly used educational resource, impacting patient care both during and after critical care fellowship training.