Open Educational Resources (OER) for Medicine and Health Sciences

licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"Aerobic fitness is integral to successful sports performance and to maintaining good health. But what sort of exercise should you be doing to develop your aerobic fitness? This free course, Improving aerobic fitness, will help you to answer this question by introducing you to principles of aerobic exercise prescription."

licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"The ability to recover quickly from an intensive training session or match can be extremely advantageous to sports performers. Sport and fitness participants are increasingly using strategies such as ice baths and compression clothing to enhance their recovery from intensive exercise, but how effective are these strategies? Do they really speed up the recovery process? To answer questions such as these this free course ‘Recovery strategies in sport and exercise’ investigates the science behind recovery exploring the physiological processes involved in training and recovery and the potential role of recovery strategies."

licensed under CC-SA creative commons license
available to watch online and embed in your own resources

A collection of 5 short animated videos exploring Spina Bifida, Osteoarthritis, Achondroplasia, Gout, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

"Open Osmosis is an initiative committed to developing & disseminating health education resources with the ultimate aim of making healthcare more accessible. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we have created and curated thousands of open educational resources (OER) including images, videos, and practice questions within more than a dozen clinical domains. These include anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, neurology, obstetrics & gynecology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, radiology, and surgery. These were produced and curated by more than 150 medical students, residents, and clinicians from around the world."

created by the iTunes U team for Open University, these podcasts are available to watch online or downloadable on iTunes
well-rated, but not peer-reviewed
licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"Psychological factors can play a significant role in sport and exercise. In sport, psychological preparation could mean the difference between winning and losing, whilst in exercise psychological factors could dictate whether or not we decide to even start an exercise programme. What are the links between exercise and mental health and what does it really take to stick to a programme of regular physical activity? This material forms part of The Open University module E233 Sport and exercise psychology: a case study approach."

available in: multiple formats
licensed under: CC-BY creative commons license

This open educational resource (OER) was developed to ensure best practice and quality care based on the latest evidence, and to address inconsistencies in how clinical health care skills are taught and practised in the clinical setting. The checklist approach, used in this textbook, aims to provide standardized processes for clinical skills and to help nursing schools and clinical practice partners keep procedural practice current. Each skill/procedure is covered in a chapter that has learning objectives, a brief overview of the relevant theory, checklists of steps for procedures with the rationale behind each step of the process, and a summary of key takeaways. Key terms are set in bold throughout the book and laid out again in a Glossary in the appendix. All 88 checklists are also summarized, and hyperlinked to the original checklist, in the appendix.

available in multiple formats
licensed under: CC-BY-NC creative commons license

"Before new interventions can be used in disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in “field trials”, which may be complex and expensive undertakings. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in trials that have been conducted in the past have generally not been published. As a consequence, those planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to previously accumulated knowledge. In this book the practical issues of trial design and conduct are discussed fully and in sufficient detail for the text to be used as a “toolbox” by field investigators. The toolbox has now been extensively tested through use of the first two editions and this third edition is a comprehensive revision, incorporating the many developments that have taken place with respect to trials since 1996 and involving more than 30 contributors. Most of the chapters have been extensively revised and 7 new chapters have been added."

available to read online and in pdf
licensed under: CC-BY creative commons license

Anatomy and Physiology is a dynamic textbook for the two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body system and covers standard scope and sequence requirements. Its lucid text, strategically constructed art, career features, and links to external learning tools address the critical teaching and learning challenges in the course. The web-based version of Anatomy and Physiology also features links to surgical videos, histology, and interactive diagrams.

available in multiple formats
licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA creative commons license

This peer reviewed e-book is a must-read for nurses and other health professionals who strive to teach with creativity and excellence in clinical settings. Each chapter presents current evidence informed educational practice knowledge. Each topic is also presented with text boxes describing ‘Creative Strategies’ that clinical teachers from across Canada have successfully implemented. For those who are interested in background knowledge, the authors provided a comprehensive literature base. And, for those interested mainly in 'what to do,' the text box summaries offer step-by-step directions for creative, challenging activities that both new and experienced instructors can begin using immediately.

available to use online
licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"Introduces and examines the basic prinicples which guide growth and development and the health of individuals across the lifespan, from the prenatal period through senescence. Presents methodological, conceptual and substantive issues necessary for understanding and evaluating empirically based information about growth, development and health at different stages of life and from different academic perspectives. Course covers several themes, including contributions of biological and environmental factors to health and human development, measuring the health of individuals in communities, understanding determinants and consequences of health and development across the lifespan, measuring population health and assessing the implications of health disparities.

Course Objectives: After completing this course, students should be able to do the following:

-Identify an alternative approach to the health of populations other than the disease-based approach
-Discuss the value of integrating multiple perspectives to understanding human health, including the demographic, human development, lifespan, family, and community contexts
-Demonstrate how a longitudinal, lifespan approach provides an expanded understanding of the multiple determinants of health
-Identify the common models of behavior change used in public health at both the individual and the population levels
-Describe an integrated approach to understanding the health of populations in developing and developed countries"

available to view online
licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"Teaches students to frame public health issues using a life course perspective. Introduces and examines basic principles of human development across the life span, from the prenatal period through senescence, and the idea that health outcomes reflect developmental processes. Provides a conceptual framework with which to understand the interrelationships among biological, psychological, and social factors and their influence on development and health. Also illustrates the application of this perspective to gain a critical understanding of public health issues."

available to view online
licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA

"This course will consider long-term service delivery programs designed to meet the special needs of seniors. It will review care and service systems from the unique perspective of an aging population, including the physiological and psychological changes common among seniors.

Students will become conversant with a conceptual framework for planning, organizing, and delivering services to the elderly, including the ability to define the major physical, mental and psychosocial changes and health problems that accompany aging and their applicability to program development. They will be able to describe the impact of demographics and the changing nature of family relationships on senior services delivery programs as well as to evaluate various models of service delivery, including their relevance to current economic, political and social conditions.

The course will also include an historical, philosophical and managerial overview of seniors housing and care, from congregate living to skilled nursing. The course will analyze the underpinnings of the profession, including the demographics of aging, the role of financing and the evolving marketplace. The course will include a focus on the role of health care delivery within seniors housing, with attention devoted to the determinants of quality care, various models of care, and the critical role of quality management. "

available to view online
licensed under: CC-BY-NC-SA

"Introduces the study of aging, its implications for individuals, families, and society, and the background for health policy related to older persons. Presents an overview on aging from different perspectives: demography, biology, epidemiology of diseases, physical and mental disorders, functional capacity and disability, health services, federal and state health policies, social aspects of aging, and ethical issues in the care of older individuals.

Course Learning Objectives: To introduce students to a range of health issues that older persons, their health providers, and society face in the next decade. These include the demographics and biology of aging, an understanding of the basic health and mental health issues, and policy decisions that state and federal government will need to solve related to these issues."