2.1. The Early Nutrition Specialist Programme (ENS): Concept and Programme Execution

The ENS programme, run by the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München (LMU Munich, Germany) in collaboration with the LMU University Hospital, Dept. of Paediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital and the Early Nutrition eAcademy (ENeA), was established and piloted in 2017 with around 600 doctors in practice in three countries of the Middle East (Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia). Since then, the programme was expanded and three further global cycles were conducted with more than 5000 healthcare professionals in more than 48 countries worldwide. The ENS programme capitalizes from more than ten years’ experience in conceptualization, implementation and execution of e-learning platforms and courses, including the Early Nutrition eAcademy (ENeA; >12,000 users, 173 countries, 4 languages including English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Turkish), dedicated e-learning programmes addressing Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and others, and an international network of collaborating experts on research and healthcare related to the subject field. The development, implementation and evaluation of the ENeA programmes was supported by several European Union funded grants including the Framework 7 Programme EarlyNutrition.

The ENS programme contains highly interactive online courses using the open-source learning management software MOODLE (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). Based on extensive expert knowledge in the field of early nutrition and lifestyle, the ENS programme consolidates the current scientific evidence base, international and regional recommendations, together with latest research findings into e-learning courses that are directly relevant for practical application by international healthcare professionals in the field.

The learning curriculum contains Core Courses alternating each month with Focus Courses, with a defined start and end date synchronized for all learners and a total duration of six months. While Core Courses provide comprehensive basic knowledge on the specific topic, Focus Courses offer knowledge in specialized areas (Figure 1). The Core Courses consists of three topics each with a learning time of 2 × 45 min plus 15 min per month. The Focus Courses have a learning time of 45 min plus 15 min. Learners can access the ENS programme by self-enrolling with an access code, which consists of a unique 11-digit number located on the personal voucher invitation to the programme. The ENS programme is accredited by the German Medical Association (“Bundesärztekammer”) and the European (UEMS) CME accreditation body, which is also accepted by the American (AMA) CME accreditation authority. At the end of each month, the participant must successfully complete a CME test to collect CME credits. This test consists of ten multiple-choice questions. To pass a CME test and earn credits, learners must achieve a minimum score of 70% correct answers. Every participant has three attempts to pass the test. Regardless of the result of a CME test, the user is still able to continue the ENS programme and collect CME credits in the subsequent courses. At the end of the ENS programme, a final ENS CME Certificate is automatically generated by the platform with the total number of achieved CME credits collected over the whole ENS programme duration. To get the final ENS CME Certificate of Completion, a minimum threshold of five out of nine available CME credits and the completion of all courses is required. The Certificate is issued as an official professional education certificate by LMU Munich and the ENeA.

The Early Nutrition Specialist (ENS) Curriculum. Note: LC-PUFA stands for Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid.

Learning progress is continuously self-monitorable by the learner and accompanied by an automatic learner management system (automatic and individualized SMS-messages and email reminders and next course announcements are sent to the learner).