BioGaia Academy – a recipe for supporting and developing a global network of opinion leaders

BioGaia is an innovative Swedish healthcare company and has been a world leader in food supplements with probiotics for more than 30 years.

Over the years BioGaia has created worldwide networks of leading independent researchers and specialists, manufacturing experts and local distribution partners. BioGaia’s products are recommended by paediatricians and other healthcare professionals from over 100 countries.

The Challenge 

BioGaia’s successful business model focuses on long-term relationships in three external networks – research, production, and distribution.

Within the research network, BioGaia collaborates with some 50 research institutes and clinics worldwide. In this network there are many opinion leaders, and the challenge was to find a way to grow and develop the network. To create a global, online learning community where medical experts can share knowledge, support, and communicate with the participants of the community.

The Solutio

With the assistance of Aleido, Sweden-based Totara platinum-partner, BioGaia decided to go for a bespoke blended learning program implementing Totara Lear as the technical foundation. The “BioGaia Academy” includes a blended learning program, social learning, peer-to-peer assessments, and dialogue, supported by medical experts. The experts participate in videos and webinars, in communication forums and assess the participants.The expert programs include the topics of Pediatrics and Oral health. Potential participants are nominated by BioGaia’s partners and carefully selected. The target group are health professionals with long work experience who want to be part of BioGaia’s medical community and improve their competence. The programs are a mix of mandatory learning with assignments and webinars as well as several optional learning resources.Assignments are supported by the Forum features in Totara Learn, where each participant is asked to provide their own reflections after having studied research articles, as well as commenting on their co-participants’ feedback. A variety of learning formats are used in the program including learning modules and interactive video, using the built-in support for H5P content.

• Forums – for peer-to-peer assessments, reflections, and dialogue.
• eLearning (Adapt SCORM-files)
• Glossary
• H5P– interactive video
• Alumni Forum
• Multiple languages (English, Chinese, etc.)

The Results

BioGaia Academy is a platform where medical experts can share knowledge and support participants all over the world. The programs include interactive video lectures, eLearning modules, assignments, and webinars.A survey with the participants of the expert program Oral Health was conducted. Some of the key results include:

Platform content (overall learning experience): 5/5

Technical functionalities (navigation, interactivity etc.): 4.77/5

Overall support (from medical experts): 5/5

Networking (how fruitful were the cooperation and networking): 4.31/5

Overall experience (how likely is it that you would recommend the program to someone else): 92 % (positive)

 Participants of the survey commented:

“I found the platform very intuitive and easy to navigate.”

“Excellent and wonderful experience!! It’s a recommended program with a comprehensive approach. It’s more than my expectation.” 

“It is the best course I have taken in many years.”

“On all assignments, the medical experts were fully supportive. They were very helpful in answering our questions, and making considerations about our assignments.”

“Virtual meetings were dynamic and the participation and contribution of the teachers incredible.”

“It’s a great opportunity to talk and work with dentists and scientists all around the world.”

The next step includes extending BioGaia Academy with a third expert program. “I am more than grateful for the support provided by the BioGaia Academy expert program in our efforts to educate physicians in Latin America. With the help of this program, we were able to reach over 10,000 physicians with high-quality educational content at a lower cost than previously possible. The BioGaia Academy expert program provided us with valuable resources, new information, didactic material, and a community of experts who were available to answer questions and contribute to our efforts. The program helped us to prepare key opinion leaders (KOLs) who played a crucial role in disseminating information about our educational initiatives and attracting more physicians to participate. Thanks to the BioGaia Academy expert program, we were able to deliver high-quality educational content that was tailored to the specific needs of physicians by specialty in Latin America. The program’s resources and tools allowed us to create engaging and effective learning experiences that were accessible to a wider audience than we had previously reached. Overall, we believe that the program has been a great asset in our efforts to educate more physicians with reliable and ethical information. We look forward to continuing to work with the program to expand our reach and improve the quality of medical education in the region.” – Ivan Garcia, Regional Director LatAm, BioGaia