A full educational resource review of grey literature resources for vancomycin dosing tutorials

Background Optimized vancomycin dosing is associated with improved clinical outcomes, especially decreased acute kidney injury. Free, online, grey literature training materials are available for vancomycin dosing; however, their utility is unclear. Objectives This study evaluates the utility of these tools for just-in-time (e.g. refresher courses) training for general clinicians dosing vancomycin. Methods A structured grey literature review of websites was performed, and the Online Course Quality Review (OSCQR) rubric was modified for this study. Eligible resources included free, web-based tutorials aimed at general clinicians. The materials were evaluated using the rubric. Data were summarized as counts and proportions. Results A total of 65 online resources were identified. Seven resources were eligible for inclusion and reviewed. The OSCQR rubric was modified to include 17 relevant items. The average (range) number of elements per resource was 10 per resource (6–14). The resources with the largest proportions of elements were MemoryPharm (14/17, 82%), DoseMe (13/17, 76%) and ClinCalc (11/17, 65%). Evaluating only the High Impact Standards, MemoryPharm, DoseMe, and ClinCalc had (11/11, 100%), (9/11,82%), and (7/11,64%). Conclusions Memory Pharm, DoseMe, and ClinCalc performed highly using the OSCQR rubric. The additional resources may be useful in other domains, such as site-wide implementation or for more in-depth review. Further research is needed to understand the utility of these resources in clinical education.