Massive open online courses in U.S. healthcare education: Practical considerations and lessons learned from implementation.

Background And Purpose: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer an innovative approach to pharmacy education and are expected to challenge traditional pedagogy and foundational knowledge acquisition practices. A survey of the literature reveals no current publications describing implementation of MOOCs in pharmacy education and limited information about MOOC implementation in other healthcare disciplines in the United States.

Educational Activity And Setting: A few colleges of pharmacy (COPs) and other health professions' educational programs have recently started offering MOOCs.

Massive open online courses in public health.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) represent a new and potentially transformative model for providing educational opportunities to learners not enrolled in a formal educational program. The authors describe the experience of developing and offering eight MOOCs on a variety of public health topics. Existing institutional infrastructure and experience with both for-credit online education and open educational resources mitigated the institutional risk and resource requirements.

A comparison of online versus on-site training in health research methodology: a randomized study.

Background: Distance learning may be useful for building health research capacity. However, evidence that it can improve knowledge and skills in health research, particularly in resource-poor settings, is limited. We compared the impact and acceptability of teaching two distinct content areas, Biostatistics and Research Ethics, through either on-line distance learning format or traditional on-site training, in a randomized study in India.

Home environmental intervention in inner-city asthma: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: Airborne pollutants and indoor allergens increase asthma morbidity in inner-city children; therefore, reducing exposure, if feasible, should improve asthma morbidity.

Objective: To conduct a randomized controlled trial of methods to reduce environmental pollutant and allergen exposure in the homes of asthmatic children living in the inner city.

Methods: After the completion of questionnaires, spirometry and allergen skin tests, home inspection, and measurement of home air pollutant and allergen levels, 100 asthmatic children aged 6 to 12 years were randomized to the treatment group (home-based education, cockroach and rodent extermination, mattress and pillow encasings, and high-efficiency particulate air cleaner) or to the control group (treated at the end of the 1-year trial).

Indoor exposures to air pollutants and allergens in the homes of asthmatic children in inner-city Baltimore.

This paper presents indoor air pollutant concentrations and allergen levels collected from the homes of 100 Baltimore city asthmatic children participating in an asthma intervention trial. Particulate matter (PM), NO2, and O3 samples were collected over 72 h in the child's sleeping room. Time-resolved PM was also assessed using a portable direct-reading nephelometer.

Methods and issues in conducting a community-based environmental randomized trial.

The environment is suspected to play an important role in the prevalence and severity of asthma in inner-city children. This paper describes the implementation and baseline data of an inner-city community-based participatory research clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of a pollutant and allergen control strategy on children's asthma morbidity. Participants were 100 elementary-school-aged children with asthma, graduates of a school-based asthma education program in East Baltimore.

Mouse allergen exposure and mouse skin test sensitivity in suburban, middle-class children with asthma.

Background: Exposure to mouse allergen is prevalent in inner-city homes and is associated with an increased risk of mouse skin test sensitivity in inner-city children with asthma.

Objective: To determine the distribution of mouse allergen and its relationship to mouse skin test sensitivity in a primarily suburban, middle-class population of asthmatic children.

Methods: Children with asthma, 6 to 17 years old, were recruited from 3 pediatric practices located in counties surrounding the city of Baltimore and from 1 practice located within the city limits.

Cockroach allergen exposure and sensitization in suburban middle-class children with asthma.

Background: Exposure to cockroach allergen is prevalent in inner-city homes and is associated with an increased risk of cockroach sensitization.

Objective: We sought to determine the prevalence of cockroach allergen exposure in suburban middle-class homes and to study its relationship to cockroach sensitization.

Methods: Children with asthma, 6 to 17 years of age, were recruited from 3 pediatric practices located in counties surrounding Baltimore city and from 1 practice located within Baltimore city limits.

Knowledge and practice of dust mite control by specialty care.

Background: Dust mites are the primary indoor allergen risk for increasing asthma attacks and morbidity. Adherence to allergen avoidance recommendations decreases bronchial reactivity and asthma morbidity.

Objective: This study compared the knowledge and practice of environmental control advice of families of children with asthma seen by an allergist or a pediatrician.