BSCAH foundation training is recognised by ESH, and the ISH. ESH and ISH set the standards for basic hypnosis training for health care professionals, and they recognise BSCAH’s course as meeting the core requirements. The core foundation course comprises six face to face days of teaching, with self practice encouraged.

Do you think BSCAH could cover their syllabus whilst reducing the amount of face to face time needed, and still providing an excellent educational experience?

The links below are not endorsed or recommended by BSCAH but are just chosen as examples

Flipping the classroom would be one useful approach. This gives students background information to read, interact with, and think about, before face to face sessions which are then used to solve problems. Do you think this would help in hypnosis?

The Flipped Classroom: instruction online outside of class & “homework” in the classroom #FOAMed #MedEd pic.twitter.com/kgVsMQNZT7

— Salim R. Rezaie, MD (@srrezaie) September 19, 2013 “>http://

What happens if then you interact online, closely emulating the way you would interact in a classroom? The learning then becomes “blended”, with a mix of self directed and guided learning, coupled with the chance to learn and explore problems with peers.

There are thousands of examples or this working well.

This resource on teaching pedagogy for expert educators is free, and encourages discussion. It’s a great example of how there can be more knowledge built when you encourage discussion.

Change School builds on a community, a social movement for change. They distribute lots of information, in lots of “social” ways – thoroughly utilising twitter, facebook and their well designed website.

The Hypnosis Motivation Institute delivers free, and paid for, hypnosis training online. Their methodology is a bit different, and they focus mostly on filming face to face sessions.

The London school goes a bit further, and delivers training and links, but also gives you the option to submit an essay to be marked, consolidating your knowledge.

My workplace has piloted using google classroom as a free tool to give junior doctors basic knowledge on key paediatric presentations (use the code v6yoz5 if you’d like to join in). This is an example of asynchronous learning, where students learn at their own pace.

So what are the advantages of introducing an online component? I see it as a more standardised element of core learning, with fewer demands on the time of the teachers. The students can learn at their own pace so diaries are easier aligned. With less face to face time the overheads for room hire etc. are lower. The disadvantages? Well, just like students can sleep through lectures, so they can skip through the online materials. The face to face time is more intense, as practice and discussion time is much more intense.

What do you think?