BMJ appointed an in-country BMJ Implementation Lead and a global health expert for the initiative
BMJ’s novel approach to pandemic preparedness, biosecurity, and disease surveillance helped to improve the frontline’s detection, diagnosis, and management of infectious diseases.
Throughout 2022, BMJ Learning and BMJ Best Practice were shown to address the learning needs of health professionals in Georgia, including the need for real-time evidence-based decision support in the clinic, and the opportunity for acquiring and embedding new medical knowledge.
This phase of the initiative in Georgia built on the success of the first three years of implementation (2016-2019) by expanding access and embedding the practices of using clinical support tools and earning continuous professional development credits.
“The BMJ platform is based on the most scientifically sound and substantiated information available. This is important to us and in the patient’s best interest.”
Dr Tamar Gabunia, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the occupied territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs
The CDS Training Initiative operated with national political support to ensure local ownership and political buy-in. We worked in partnership with the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the occupied territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs (the Ministry) and the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC). The signing of a memorandum of understanding between BMJ and the Ministry in November 2019 cemented this partnership.
We formed a working group with the Ministry and NCDC to monitor the initiative and support implementation and sustainment. Whilst the covid-19 pandemic prevented us from meeting in person, the support of the working group did not diminish the success in registering doctors and ensuring that there was programme support for them.
““It [the CDS Training Initiative] contributes to the most important thing in medicine, and the most important thing is training human resources to a high professional standard and constant and continuous medical education and professional development."”
Amiran Gamkrelidze, Director General, National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health
BMJ appointed an in-country BMJ Implementation Lead and a global health expert for the initiative
5,550 doctors from over 100 institutions were registered as users of the CDS Training Initiative in Georgia
In addition to English, 318 BMJ Best Practice topics and 136 BMJ Learning modules were translated into Georgian
We appointed an in-country BMJ Implementation Lead, a global health expert with a thorough understanding of the national health system, who managed the daily implementation of the initiative.
More than 5,550 doctors from over 100 institutions were registered as users of the CDS Training Initiative in Georgia, all of which who were provided with access to BMJ Best Practice and BMJ Learning. Both BMJ resources were accessed through a bespoke website called the CDS Portal, which also hosted supplementary materials such as podcasts, blogs, and case studies.
In addition to providing access to all the resources in English, 318 BMJ Best Practice topics and 136 BMJ Learning modules were translated into Georgian.
BMJ Best Practice and BMJ Learning are designed to empower doctors to make evidence-based clinical decisions across hundreds of conditions. The content is written and peer-reviewed by over 4,000 independent, international clinical experts from across 29 countries.
Delivering real impact to everyday clinical practice
In the autumn of 2022, independent survey results showed that the BMJ CDS initiative resources helped doctors to improve their medical knowledge and patient care.
Throughout the programme, we interviewed doctors to learn how the BMJ resources support their clinical practice and teaching:
Dr Tea Sakhokia is a family physician working in the Meore Nosiri village in the Senaki district. Dr Sakhokia is the only doctor in this village and goes above and beyond the call of duty to care for her patients - seeing patients at all hours and using part of her house as her clinic.
BMJ Best Practice and BMJ Learning cover almost all conditions I see regularly in my clinic. Before using these resources, I was using national protocols on the Ministry of Health website, which took up a lot of time. BMJ’s resources save me time and I like that I have access to it on an App. The resources are convenient and I can start and pause BMJ Learning modules when I have time. I like that BMJ Best Practice is constantly being updated and I can rely on it to have the most updated information. There are a lot of resources out there, but BMJ Best Practice gives you exactly what you need when you need it. I check the differential section to see if there are any conditions I am missing. I check the diagnostic criteria to check if the diagnosis can be made for the patient's presenting symptoms. Finally, I check the treatment approach when planning the management strategy. Most importantly, I use BMJ Best Practice to build trust with the patient. I show them that the information is evidence based and that expert opinion is being brought directly to the bedside. It helps the patient feel like they are making the decision with the doctor - which helps with treatment compliance.”
Dr Givi Javashvili is a practising family physician and the Head of the Quality Assurance Department at Raymann Clinic, a primary care clinic. He is also the Head of the Family Medicine Department at Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU).
We use BMJ Best Practice and BMJ Learning extensively as the resources are mapped to the curricula for medical students. Recently, we started to use BMJ resources as formal assignments in their training courses.
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