Self-directed learning using clinical decision support: costs and outcomes.

It is an axiom of research into cost and value in education that the way to deliver low cost education is to save on faculty cost, as this makes up the majority of the costs in most educational programmes. Thus, any savings that can be made to faculty costs will make a significant contribution to reducing overall cost. But this may not be the case with all programmes, or with all methods of learning. In particular, it may not be the case with self-directed learning. The cost of self-directed learning can be divided up into cost categories just like any other form of learning. As such, it will be made up of faculty cost, learner costs, infrastructure and facility costs, content costs and technology costs. However, in postgraduate education, these costs are largely the same as those that account for clinical care, as postgraduate learners learn as they work. To get maximum value from self-directed learning that will support clinical decisions, learners will need to have access to excellent clinical decision support resources that will facilitate self-directed learning.