EXTERNAL EDUCATION

FOCUS AREA WORKING GROUP

External Education led by Medical Affairs is critical to provide unbiased education to enhance healthcare professional (HCP) knowledge, skills and competencies through funding for independent medical education or industry-led medical education that addresses identified knowledge or competency and performance gaps. The goals of the External Education FAWG are as follows:

  • Ensure understanding of the current state of external medical education as it relates to the Medical Affairs function, and the needs of Medical Affairs professionals
  • Raise awareness among Medical Affairs professionals of the value of external medical education in the biopharmaceutical/device industry
  • Facilitate the evolving role of Medical Affairs professionals in external medical education in response to the changing landscape
  • Provide tools and solutions to Medical Affairs professionals to help design and execute compliant and impactful external medical education programs

Activities:

We organize External Education workshops for MAPS meetings in the North America, APAC (Asia Pacific – China/Japan), and EMEA (Europe, Middle-East, Asia) regions. We develop original content for webinars, podcasts, eLearning courses and white papers. In addition, the working group will periodically contribute cogent and timely content on the External Education sector for the MAPS publication, Elevate magazine. Most importantly, we will provide a supportive resource for all External Education Medical Affairs Professionals.​

Strategic Objectives

  1. Landscape: Ensure understanding of the current state of External Education (EE) as it relates to Medical Affairs (MA) function:
    • Communicate ongoing trends and activities in EE
    • Assess the needs (opportunities and barriers) of Medical Affairs Professionals in developing or supporting high quality EE ​​
  2.  Position: Enhance the value of Medical Affairs’ External Education within the biopharmaceutical/device industry and with our external stakeholders to ultimately improve patient care:
    • Benchmark how organizations are measuring and communicating value of EE
    • Identify and share best practices to establish impact measurements that demonstrate ongoing value of lifelong learning to HCPs
  3. Optimize: Drive the evolution of Medical Affairs professionals in External Education in response to the changing landscape:
    • Identify core competencies and map to existing learning resources
    • Explore opportunities to create a Certificate program for EE Medical Affairs Professionals
    • Equip Medical Affairs Professionals to confidently communicate the strategic contribution of EE internally and externally
  4. Provide Solutions: Provide a range of approaches and solutions to Medical Affairs professionals to support/design/execute compliant and impactful External Education programs
    • Expand engagement with diverse stakeholders by exposing Medical Affairs professionals to more diverse innovative formats and channels
    • Identify and share best practices to establish innovative educational formats that demonstrate ongoing value to learners

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Description: In partnership with Medical Communications and Educational Design experts from Open Health, this episode of the MAPS podcast series Elevate details how to position patients as priority in designing and refining internal training.

FAWG OVERVIEW

MEMBERS

RESOURCES RELATED TO EXTERNAL EDUCATION

Behavioral Science External Education ondemand

Behavioral Science: The Missing Link in Medical Education

This session examines how integrating behavioral science insights (how humans make decisions and what drives their behavior) and adult education best practices (how adults best acquire, retain, and use knowledge) can evolve external medical education from knowledge dissemination alone to behavioral understanding and, ultimately, impactful outcomes.
External Ed SandG Featured

External Education Standards & Guidance and Templates

This Standard and Guidance is intended to inform the practice of External Education by Medical Affairs teams and departments.
Wiley Survey Featured

Optimize your Medical Education Strategy: Insights from Wiley’s 2024 HCPs’ Information Seeking Behavior Study

Experts from Wiley discuss a strategy-driven approach to Medical Education, powered by timely, credible information delivered in multiple formats.
External Education 2030 Featured

The Future of External Education 2030

A position from MAPS on how Medical Affairs can optimize industry-led and independent Medical Education for maximum value and impact

Integrating Omnichannel Engagement (OCE) With Company-Led Education

This e-Learning module will enable learners to define principles of and adopt an integrated approach to orchestrating omnichannel Company-led Education, identify stakeholder segmentation and associated learning journeys for use in content development, use the associated outcomes and insights to deliver and improve omnichannel medical education, while complying with industry regulations as well as company governance and oversight policies.
MAPS Medical Affairs Textbook Featured

BOOK RELEASE: MAPS Medical Affairs Textbook

MEDICAL AFFAIRS: The Roles, Value and Practice of Medical Affairs in the Biopharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industries (Taylor & Francis, 2024)