LEARNly

WHAT IS LEARNLY?

Learnly is an anesthesia learning ecosystem. It is a collection of courses and resources for anesthesia learning. Learnly grew from STARTprep, the first iteration of our online anesthesia course. STARTprep was an extension of the AIM Lab’s successful START program. START – Successful Transition to Anesthesia Residency Training, is a year-long program during internship designed to help incoming residents feel more prepared to begin anesthesia residency training. Our Learnly|Foundations course takes up where START ends. It is a one-year curriculum designed to provide CA-1 residents with competency in the anesthesia basic sciences. Learnly courses are not board-prep courses. 

The curriculum for Learnly|Foundations is based on the published anesthesia basic science curriculum.

The Learnly|Foundations course is built using open-source learning tools, including the Moodle learning management system, as well as multimedia and mobile learning tools.

Learnly is a research project from the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM) Lab, a non-profit research laboratory based in the Department of Anesthesia at Stanford University School of Medicine.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR LEARNLY COME FROM?

The idea for Learnly was originally developed by Drs. Larry Chu and Kyle Harrison at the SEA Fall meeting in San Diego, California in 2010. The project was originally named STARTed, and then STARTprep, but was then renamed as it expanded into a learning ecosystem.

WHO IS LEADING LEARNLY?

Dr. Larry Chu, Director of the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM) lab leads the project and serves as the program, research and technical lead of Learnly. Dr. Chu’s longtime educational collaborator, Dr. Andrea J. Fuller has signed on to lead the content development of Learnly|Foundations.

WHO ARE THE PARTNER INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED WITH DEVELOPING AND TESTING LEARNLY?

As a partner institution and member of the Learnly consortium, each member is responsible for developing and delivering course content on quarterly deliverable timetables to

the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM) lab. These institutions will also complete an IRB research arrangement with Stanford University to provide research data to the AIM lab for publication by the project leads, Larry Chu, MD, Andrea J. Fuller, MD, and Kyle Harrison, MD.

Consortium members are required to complete a copyright transfer of materials developed for Learnly to the course leaders. In exchange, each partner institution gains access to the technology and content platform for its anesthesia residents in preparation for the compentency in the anesthesia basic sciences. There is no fee or charge for participating partner institutions to use Learnly, but we rely on our member institutions for voluntary tiered donations that help maintain the course.

OUR ORIGINAL PARTNER INSTITUTIONS:

• Stanford University (Larry Chu, MD and Kyle Harrison, MD) 
Lead Institution
• University of Colorado at Denver (Andrea J. Fuller, MD)
• George Washington University (Jeffrey Berger, MD)
• Harvard University – Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Rob Lekowski, MD)
• Harvard University – Massachusetts General Hospital (Meredith Albrecht, MD)
• Yale University (Viji Kurup, MD)
• Tufts University (Iqbal Ahmed, MD)
• University of Rochester, New York (Carol Diachun, MD)
• University of Massachusetts (Elifce Cosar, MD and Ellie Duduch, MD)
• Tulane University (Michael Yarborough, MD)
• UC San Diego (Daniel E. Lee, MD)
• University of Alabama (Susan Black, MD and Lee Ann Riesenberg, MD)

HOW IS LEARNLY BEING FUNDED?

The Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM) lab receives funding from the Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Anesthesia. We remain grateful for past charitable donations from the San Antonio Foundation, and award monies from the International Anesthesia Research Society.  The AIM lab also strives to generate income through project-based initiatives with organizations such as the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. We use these income streams to pay for the technical platform development of Learnly and teaching assistant staffing time to run the program.

HOW MUCH DOES LEARNLY COST?

Because Learnly is also a research project, the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media (AIM) lab does not charge a fee to use the program.  Donations from our member organizations, however, are integral to maintaining Learnly.

WHEN WILL LEARNLY LAUNCH?

Learnly is a year-long curriculum that enrolls programs on a rolling basis. Most programs, however, choose to enroll new CA-1 residents as they begin their training in the summer so they will benefit from the program for a full year before taking their exams.