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Page 93 Maher et al. J Transl Genet Genom 2023;7:94-109 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/jtgg.2023.04

experts) in design and delivery was a crucial element of our programs. As a result, we have identified a
common set of learning objectives required for “entry level” education, irrespective of medical specialty.
These are potentially useful to other education programs, particularly where there are no agreed national
standards (e.g., competencies) to guide education for non-genetic medical specialists (e.g., Australia). Our
evaluation results provide insights into the place of online learning and workshops as implementation
strategies to translate the use of genomics from research settings to health systems.

Medical specialists’ preference for CME specific to their specialty and patient group would suggest that
[6]
education programs need to be designed for a specific discipline. Our results challenge that assumption.
Firstly, a common set of core learning objectives could be defined across the specialty-specific workshops,
similar to the common “clinical goals” identified across multiple specialties for a continuing genomics
[25]
education program at a US hospital . Secondly, there was little difference in learner confidence or
understanding between survey respondents from our specialty-specific workshops versus generic blended
course, with similar ratings on the usefulness of the cases in each program. This suggests that, with an
appropriate selection of cases and the inclusion of experts for group facilitation, similar outcomes can be
achieved.

There is potentially an inherent tension between continuing genomics education tailored to a specialty and
more readily scalable online education approaches to meet the needs of a growing number of many medical
specialties across a health system. The reliance on the availability of experts with genomics, specialty, and/or
teaching expertise to deliver specialty-specific workshops limits their potential to scale across a health
system. However, the step-wise increases observed in the blended learning course respondent data, where
participants first completed the online modules and then subsequently attended a workshop, suggest there
is an additional benefit in attending a CBL workshop. Workshops can provide additional benefits that
support the adoption of genomic medicine by practitioners. Respondents’ preferences for the different
modes of delivery in our programs suggest that online learning can be satisfactory for education relating to
pre-test counseling and test request procedures, which are generally common to all patients. In contrast,
workshops may be more suitable for education about post-test counseling, perhaps reflecting the nuance
inherent in interpreting and applying the test results for an individual patient. Australian medical specialists
[19]
prefer a service model of providing genomic medicine with support from clinical genetics services .
Multidisciplinary workshops involving genetic specialists as educators can also facilitate the formation of
networks with clinical genetics services to foster this support. While workshops are resource intensive, as
the practice builds, expert guidance will be increasingly available within the workplace or networks,
potentially reducing the need for this approach over time.

Genomics education programs are typically designed and delivered by specialists with up-to-date expertise
in genomics [25-28] . A critical success factor for both our genomics education programs was to include non-
genetic yet “expert” medical specialists (peer experts), alongside genetic specialists, educators and
evaluators. Our peer experts gained specialty-specific genomics experience through periods of immersion in
genomics-rich environments and received training in case-based learning before facilitating workshops.
Reports of using peer experts to co-design and deliver continuing education are limited, with few relevant to
genetics/genomics [15,29-32] . Peer experts view the application of genomic medicine through their discipline-
[33]
specific lens while also retaining the perspective of a genomics novice . In both our programs, peer experts
were crucial in defining learning objectives and content that introduced genomics in a relevant and
accessible way to non-genetic medical specialists. Involving genetics specialists as well as peer experts in
case-based group discussions at workshops creates an opportunity to establish communication channels
between health professionals with different levels of expertise in genomics and to develop new connections