A pilot Internet teaching project to support specialist medical training

Teaching oral surgery to undergraduate students: a pilot study using a Web-based practical course

The Internet has been used in oral surgery teaching mainly to deliver learning material across the World Wide Web and to make use of online interactivity resources in everyday surgical practice, such as by e-mails, discussion groups, and chats. The aim of this paper is to describe and evaluate a Web-based practical course on oral surgery principles, which was applied to undergraduate students. This course was investigated as a distance learning simulation in which the student would be performing surgical activities at home, and the teacher and the school environment would be absent. A Web site was created containing the course material. For this study, the students participated in the Web-based course in a multimedia lab equipped with computers and Internet, internal sound system and TV circuits. In the event of significant mistakes by students, the TV circuit could be used to show the correct procedure for all the participants at the same time. Microcameras were used to monitor the student's actions during the Internet use. Students' impressions were determined by a questionnaire. Computer manipulation with ease and antiergonomic postures were observed. We concluded that distance learning courses with practical modules must be considered as a special type of educational modality, with reference to the relationship between the student and the computer.

Experience with the first Internet-based course at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo

PURPOSE

The Internet expands the range and flexibility of teaching options and enhances the ability to process the ever-increasing volume of medical knowledge. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss our experience with transforming a traditional medical training course into an Internet-based course.

METHOD

Sixty-nine students were enrolled for a one-month course. They answered pre- and post-course questionnaires and took a multiple-choice test to evaluate the acquired knowledge.

RESULTS

Students reported that the primary value for them of this Internet-based course was that they could choose the time of their class attendance (67%). The vast majority (94%) had a private computer and were used to visiting the Internet (75%) before the course. During the course, visits were mainly during the weekends (35%) and on the last week before the test (29%). Thirty-one percent reported that they could learn by reading only from the computer screen, without the necessity of printed material. Students were satisfied with this teaching method as evidenced by the 89% who reported enjoying the experience and the 88% who said they would enroll for another course via the Internet. The most positive aspect was freedom of scheduling, and the most negative was the lack of personal contact with the teacher. From the 80 multiple-choice questions, the mean of correct answers was 45.5, and of incorrect, 34.5.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that students can successfully learn with distance learning. It provides useful information for developing other Internet-based courses. The importance of this new tool for education in a large country like Brazil seems clear.

An online educational facility for medical oncology trainees: www.vmotg.org

PURPOSE

To design, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive educational Web site for medical oncology trainees.

METHODS

The Web site was designed with three main areas (termed Journal Club, Key Papers, and Oncology Links) and compiled from articles presented at the Victorian Medical Oncology Trainees' Group journal club from the preceding 3 years. The Key Papers section was then reviewed by 30 academic medical oncologists. The site was advertised by mail and at the Annual Meeting of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia. Evaluation was by mail survey.

RESULTS

The Web site, which may be accessed at www.vmotg.org, comprises more than 170 pages and 30,000 words of text. Journal club sessions are summarized with presented articles linked to abstracts from PubMed. Key Papers lists from five to 25 pivotal articles in each of 35 categories. Oncology Links is an extensive list of links in 10 categories including organizations, journals, and practice guidelines. Twenty-six of 45 trainees and 82 of 190 oncologists responded to the survey. Eighty-one percent of these trainees and 28% of oncologists have used the Web site. Ninety-six percent consider the Web site easy to use and "a useful medical oncology resource." All trainees rated the site good to excellent in terms of relevance and 94% considered the site beneficial to their education.

CONCLUSION

The Web site www.vmotg.org is a relevant and useful educational resource for Australian medical oncology trainees and oncologists. As far as the authors are aware, this is the only educational site specifically for medical oncology trainees throughout the world. It may be a valuable oncology education resource for trainees in other countries, particularly those in isolated areas.