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BETTER EVIDENCE FOR TRAINING

Better Evidence for Training builds the capacity of the next generation of leaders in the health workforce. We know that when provided access to clinical decision support tools in training, students continue to use such tools in practice. We therefore partner with leading digital tools to facilitate free access to medical schools in Africa.

Since 2015, we have worked with UpToDate, providing free, institutional licenses to eligible medical schools and affiliated clinical sites. We have continued to expand our program to more schools and diversify our toolkit of resources. In 2020, we began partnering with Osmosis, a visual learning platform that makes complex medical topics easy to understand through expertly illustrated visuals based on evidence-based learning science. In 2022, we began working with Trip Pro, a clinical search engine for users to quickly and easily find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice.

To date, we have facilitated digital tool access to more than 89,000 students, residents, and faculty in 59 medical schools across 16 countries. We support representatives – Better Evidence Champions – from each of these participating medical schools to facilitate uptake, understanding, and use of these tools locally within their institutions.

Eligibility

To be eligible to join the Better Evidence for Training program, schools must:

  • Have at least intermittent access to the internet
  • Train physicians, surgeons, or other advanced medical personnel in Africa who will serve vulnerable populations
  • Have a student body that will benefit from reading medical content in English
  • Not otherwise be able to access UpToDate
  • Have one or more Champions who are willing and able to invest 10 hours per month in promoting the use of evidence-based clinical resources on campus

Important Deadlines

  • Application deadline: Rolling/ first-come first served, will close once capacity is reached
  • Better Evidence award notifications: Rolling, as applications are completed
  • Signed agreements due: Within 2 weeks of agreement receipt
  • Subscription turned on: First week of the month subsequent to agreement signing
  • Verification of access: Within one month of subscription being turned on 
  • Champion onboarding and training: within 2 months of access start

Instructions and Timeline

For our small team to serve as many schools and facilities as possible, we will follow the timeline below.

Application Opens: Now

A university representative must fill out the Intent to Apply form, which includes the name of the university, website of the university, the mission of the university, and contact information of the applicant.

The Better Evidence team will check the eligibility of each interested school on a monthly rolling basis and then invite approved schools to complete the full application. The Better Evidence team will accept the initial intent to apply forms until all spots have been filled with complete applications.

The application requires that the school appoint and support at least one “Better Evidence for Training Champion.” Champions will serve as liaisons between the school and the Better Evidence team, join a community of practice with other Champions who have been working to promote the use of digital tools at their universities, and devote around 10 hours per month to promoting the use of evidence-based digital tools. The school must sign a Partnership Agreement with Better Evidence attesting to the integration of Champion role responsibilities into the nominees’ job description. See the full Champion job description here.

Award Notices Sent: Rolling / first-come first-served

The Better Evidence team will review applications as they are submitted. Applications completed earlier will get priority, and award notices will be sent on a rolling basis until we have reached our annual maximum capacity.

UpToDate and Better Evidence Agreements Put in Place

UpToDate will send an agreement to the signatory listed in the application shortly after award notices are sent. The agreement lays out the terms of reference for an institutional license of UpToDate. This agreement must be signed, scanned, and returned to UpToDate within two weeks of receipt for the subscription to be turned on.

Better Evidence will also send a Partnership Agreement to the appropriate signatory, laying out the responsibilities of the school and their appointed Champion(s).

UpToDate Enables Access

UpToDate “turns on” institutional access for the IP addresses provided in the application by the date indicated in the contract. IP addresses must be confirmed and tested at all sites.

Better Evidence Champions Onboarded and Trained 

Experienced Champions will train the new medical schools’ nominated Champions. The Better Evidence team will support the process and provide customized communications materials for tool promotion and training. Champions will create and roll out communications campaigns to ensure widespread knowledge of the availability of UpToDate at the medical school, while receiving ongoing support.

Better Evidence Supports Monitoring & Evaluation

UpToDate will develop reports for each medical school that show an overview of registrations, tool usage, and topics that are most frequently accessed. Reports will be sent to Champions every other month. Medical schools will receive a survey annually from Better Evidence to allow them to share their experiences and help shape the program design.

Experienced Champion leaders will be available for consultation, questions, and discussions of best implementation practices as helpful.


How to Apply

If you are interested in applying, please email betraining@ariadnelabs.org.

For any questions, please email betraining@ariadnelabs.org. Please see Frequently Asked Questions for more information about Better Evidence, UpToDate, and other frequent questions.