Digital Competence of Medical College Teachers According to DigCompEdu Framework

Over the last decade, learning and working in medicine have been increasingly influenced by digital tools and the “digital transformation” is now a popular topic. Today’s medical students are growing up in a digital age in which digital tools and devices are a regular part of their professional life. Digital transformation in healthcare is not just about technology but strategy and new ways of thinking. Developing digital competence is essential to health professional education to increase confidence in accessing the best evidence for clinical practice. Healthcare lecturers play a crucial role in promoting the acquisition of digital competencies and therefore need to be digitally competent themselves. This study aims to identify teachers’ digital competence at one medical college using the framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). A total of 47 medical college teacher participated. The results confirmed that the self-assessment instrument developed is reliable, valid, and thus suitable for measuring teachers’ digital competence. Generally, values are centred across the four major competence categories, and most participants obtain a score at the intermediate (B1) level. Investing in teacher training aimed at practical work with students is necessary, as the area showing the most significant weaknesses is Area 5: Empowering Learners. In particular, teachers also need to help their students use technologies in their education.