19 September 2023
We spoke to Rosalind Benson, consultant rheumatologist at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Rosalind talks to us about our famous spotlight series and our new review process, which will ensure all content is up to date by adding new guidance and the latest research to each topic.
What is the spotlight series?
The spotlight series started in 2021 and since then, there have been 29 spotlights that have been published on the BSR e-Learning platform. They’re popular and we've had over 13,000 downloads of the series so far (1,500 just in the last 30 days). The spotlights cover wide-ranging topics such as JIA to psoriatic arthritis, imaging to QI.
When you log into the eLearning platform, within each spotlight, you'll find that there's typically a link to a podcast, an e-learning case, and some up-to-date articles. There are also often some recorded webinars which might have been part of the BSR webinar series or from a conference.
What is the new review process that is starting for the spotlight series?
There are always updates to guidance, new treatments approved, and important new research publications. It's important that the material we put out as part of the spotlight is as up-to-date as possible.
We've now introduced a process which means that every spotlight that has been published will be reviewed, and so far, we've reviewed our PsA and our sarcoidosis spotlights.
Who undertakes the review and what does it involve?
The spotlights are written by the Digital Learning Board (DLB). We’re a wide-ranging group of adult and paediatric rheumatologists, nurses, physios, OTs and medical students and we bring to the team different levels of seniority and experience in rheumatology. This helps develop a broad overview of the spotlight series.
It's important that different team members review the spotlight, helping to give diverse insight into what material there is and ensuring that our content is applicable to all.
The person responsible for reviewing a Spotlight topic ensures that the existing content is still relevant and updated with the latest evidence-based learning and guidance.
BSR journal teams also highlight new articles of interest. There might have been a new webinar being delivered at the conference within the last year which has excellent learning opportunities, so we'll include this too.
The topics from the spotlight are selected and decided by the Digital Learning Board based on their curriculum. As part of the review process, we’re adding questions to help trainees. How will this help them prepare for their SCE exam?
The questions being added will be in a similar format to those you’ll find in the rheumatology SCE exam. We plan to develop a question bank that BSR members can draw on when they're preparing for the exams.
This will be relevant not just to people sitting the exams, but to trainees, AHPs and consultants who did the exam a few years ago and want to refresh their knowledge.
How does a BSR member know if a spotlight has been reviewed?
On the spotlight tile, we will highlight if it has been reviewed and what the new material is. There’s no need to trawl through content you've already read or undertaken.
As we review the material, we'll share these updates through our various social media platforms, and our member's e-newsletter to highlight these new resources are available.
Is this review process in addition to new spotlights that will be released in the future?
The spotlight series is a great resource produced by BSR and user downloads and feedback confirm this. We have a yearlong plan of topics that we're going to cover, and this is continually added to.
If members have any topic ideas that they think we should be covering or something important that might have changed with guidance please let us know because we would like to hear from you.