Techies Without Borders (TWB) is a non-profit organization that aims to deliver high-quality CME to low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where there are significant cost and internet access barriers for clinicians to stay up-to-date. Our program is currently established in 19 countries, serving 5,500 doctors who care for 13,400,000 patients. Our primary content delivery method is via the Continuing Medical Education Solutions (CMES) and CMES-Pi, a small computer at each site that automatically downloads content from our cloud-based server each month. The content includes podcasts and written summaries from Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives (EM:RAP-GO), emDocs.net, Don’t Forget the Bubbles, and the World Health Organization (WHO), Life in the Fast Lane, and EM Cases. There is also point-of-care ultrasound content donated by Alfred Health and emergency medical services (EMS) content donated by the MCHD Paramedic Podcast. The CME material is geared toward EM, but all specialties will find useful content. New content for other specialists is being added. We are also able to upload local CME materials. The content from the Pi can be transferred to an app so that users can access material remotely without the need for the internet. You can learn more about our initiatives here:
https://techieswithoutborders.us/
One resounding theme of user feedback that there is not enough ID content on our server relevant to LMIC. IDs are the most common causes of death in these parts of the world. There is also a disparity in publication and scholarship among authors in the “global North” compared with the “global South.” In response to these perceived needs, we have developed an ID podcast mini series consisting of interviews with CMES participants in areas of their expertise. These podcasts are uploaded to the CMES audience before being made available to the pubvlic.
The dual purpose of this podcast is to tailor the content on the CMES server to the needs of our users and to provide digital scholarship opportunities for our partners in the global South.
