Virtual platform to assist healthcare workers in family-planning consultations

An interactive learning module for evidence-based family planning called Virtual Contraception Consultation (ViC) was introduced at Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU) today.

Developed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECARO) and the East European Institute for Reproductive Health (EEIRH), ViC is a free, online learning platform offering consistent, high-quality training system in modern, family planning methods and practices to providers, residents and medical students working in the field.

The web-based learning platform is now available in Georgian with aspects adapted to the Georgian context.

Tamar Khomasuridze, UNFPA’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Regional Adviser for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said Georgia is leading the efforts of EECA countries in the adaptation of the regional training package in cooperation with TSMU.

UNFPA Regional Office is very proud that our regional and local efforts resulted in a well-established, institutionalised programme with already more than 90 students involved”, she said.

Through modern distance-learning technology, ViC enables medical professionals in the regions to provide evidence-based, reliable information and family-planning counselling.

Each ViC course consists of three main sections: Learn, Practice, and Test.

After completing the Learn section, which contains technical information on family planning from evidence-based sources, users quiz themselves in the Test section on contraceptive methods and other family-planning subjects.

The Practice section then asks learners to apply their knowledge in interactive simulations of real-life clinical scenarios in which users must follow the correct steps of a contraceptive consultation and propose the best contraceptive method.