NAGA City (PIA) – The Department of Health – Center for Health Development (DOH CHD) 5 launched its first online learning platform, the Serbisyo Salud Bicolnon Academy (SSBA) for Bicolano health workers during the 11th Salud Bicolnon Awarding Ceremony and Araw ng Pasasalamat at The Marison Hotel, Legazpi City, Friday, January 12.
In her speech, training specialist Joji Chua said, “Bicol CHD endeavored to continuously sustain its role through a new normal approach providing flexibility in terms of the sudden shift of the regular classrooms to remote learning for health workers.”
The birth of the SSBA, being an exclusive program for the Bicolanos, aims to continue to establish the quality of learning among local medical practitioners even if there are limitations in time and finances, amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic.
This online academy offers short courses for free. It has started with topics on new born screening which healthcare workers can use for their self-directed and additional credit units, and CPD units since the Bicol CHD serves as an accredited provider.
This innovation of the department has various features that make it easy to use and learn from.
Chua said, “It offers asynchronous type of learning, friendly interfaces with personal or group registration, easy access, flexible and secured learning assessment for pre and post test.”
Screengrab of the SSBA interaface
The timeline for this local educational virtual hub for health professionals was also a brainchild of Regional Director Dr. Ernie Vera after he initiated a consultative meeting with its units in information and communications technology, as well as its human resource management on January 18, 2021.
Since then, its system development was formulated. Design and programming, and local server deployment began.
In March 2021, the Bicol CHD successfully conducted its pilot online testing to selected personnel and other systems reviews and updates operate overtime.
As Chua put it, the SSBA is a legacy that the DOH CHD Bicol holds for the future of its practitioners.
“Why? Because we do not want to compromise the quality of learning that they may have in the future. We want to empower our health workers and we want them to continue their learning.”
She added, that the government desires to “enhance their knowledge and skills in order to level up with the recent developments relative to their respective skills, and to improve their effectiveness towards the ultimate goal of the universal health.” (PIA5/Camarines Sur)
