Open Access
Table 3
Qualitative themes.
| Themes | Codes | Description | Educator quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culture | CUL | Differences in culture between student, instructor, and peers may impact barriers and facilitators. | “In Kenya, if you say, “we’re meeting at 6:00.” You’re on time until 6:59.” |
| Mutual Learning | MUT | Learning happens for domestic and international students as well as for the educator due to the diversity in the cohort. | “I get to learn a lot about people from different cultures and I think that makes me a better teacher.” |
| System Differences | SD | Differences in healthcare systems and educational systems will impact the process and product. | “It’s such a different educational model… They get government sponsors… have to work as a trainee for two years and they go to class one day a week.” |
| Time Commitment | TIME | Educating online, asynchronously, across time zones requires more time from the educator and the student than a traditional in-person, domestic program. | “Commit to it like it were a class. But… that can’t be 2 h on Tuesday and Thursday. It needs to be 30 min three times a day, 5 days a week.” |
| Preparation | PREP | Educators and students must be prepared and organized. | “This isn’t something that you can just say ‘oh we’re going to become an online program now’” |
| Boundaries and Flexibility | B&F | Differing experiences on the expectations of instructors to be available to students. | “Students, when they randomly post something in the middle of the night, expect to have an answer at breakfast in the morning.” |
| Relationship | REL | Relationships are critical for student success. While more challenging to build in the online format, it is possible. | “Relationship building is absolutely more difficult [but] not impossible. You have to work for it a lot harder.” |
| Selecting Participants | SEL | Certain selection criteria may contribute as a facilitator or barrier to success. | “We’ve suggested that they have some experience working in a hospital and with patients.” |
| Student Characteristics | STU | Successful students tend to display certain skills and exhibit certain characteristics. | “To be successful in the program requires a constellation of traits.” |
| Faculty Characteristics | FAC | Effective educators tend to display certain skills and exhibit certain characteristics. | “They [faculty] really need to be passionate about this stuff.” |
| Practical Considerations | PRA | Experts emphasized certain practical considerations to program organization for optimal results. | “Time difference on multiple levels is a challenge.” |
| Language | LAN | International education presents the practical challenge of disparate language. | “One of the greatest challenges is the language barrier.” |
| Access | ACC | Access in terms of students, educators, and geography. | “You can invite an expert… on a particular topic… into the [virtual] classroom.” “You can bring these thought leaders right to these people.” |
Identified themes from educator interviews. Primary themes are shaded, subthemes are in white.
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