School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
synDRME: A Synthesis of Digital Resources for Medical Education
Poster Number
219
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
3-2016
Abstract
Background:
Across the world, many low to middle income countries are dealing with a critical shortage of physicians. This problem is exacerbated by a shortage of trained faculty to educate future physicians in meeting the needs of their country. Meanwhile, advances in Internet technology have opened the modality of “e-learning” to a global audience. These online resources serve as valuable tools for supplementing resource starved medical schools with needed educational tools, however the wide array of choices make it difficult to select the most effective resource. New efforts are needed to increase the number of teaching faculty in these countries and to find ways to deliver the required curriculum in innovative and cost-effective ways.
Objectives:
The objective of synDRME is to collect, catalog, and evaluate e-learning resources for medical schools. Specifically, to evaluate how available educational resources would function in, and their usefulness to, medical schools with limited resources. In addition, a new website was built to allow for easy access to evaluations and resources.
Methods:
Online resources were compiled and evaluated. An evaluation rubric was developed by an interdisciplinary team to assess each e-learning resource according to its cost, appropriateness for patient population, required technological infrastructure, website loading speed, time demands on faculty, learning value, and comprehensiveness of content. Based on evaluation, a score between 1 and 4 stars (4 being highly recommended) was awarded to each resource. Detailed resource evaluations were then hosted on our synDRME website.
Results:
A new website was developed to host resource evaluations and for easier access. A total of 268 online resources were evaluated covering 15 traditional medical school courses (e.g. anatomy, pediatrics). These evaluations and links to resources have been uploaded to the synDRME site.
Conclusions:
We were able to provide recommendations for 268 existing educational resources that can substitute for faculty-lead classroom experiences. This is an ongoing project, and the course evaluations are being compiled on a website and made available online via www.syndrme.org. What is most important is that we have established a comprehensive rubric to guide medical school deans and faculty in the developing world so they can rate and compare the usefulness of these new resources for their students.
Creative Commons License
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Open Access
1
synDRME: A Synthesis of Digital Resources for Medical Education
Background:
Across the world, many low to middle income countries are dealing with a critical shortage of physicians. This problem is exacerbated by a shortage of trained faculty to educate future physicians in meeting the needs of their country. Meanwhile, advances in Internet technology have opened the modality of “e-learning” to a global audience. These online resources serve as valuable tools for supplementing resource starved medical schools with needed educational tools, however the wide array of choices make it difficult to select the most effective resource. New efforts are needed to increase the number of teaching faculty in these countries and to find ways to deliver the required curriculum in innovative and cost-effective ways.
Objectives:
The objective of synDRME is to collect, catalog, and evaluate e-learning resources for medical schools. Specifically, to evaluate how available educational resources would function in, and their usefulness to, medical schools with limited resources. In addition, a new website was built to allow for easy access to evaluations and resources.
Methods:
Online resources were compiled and evaluated. An evaluation rubric was developed by an interdisciplinary team to assess each e-learning resource according to its cost, appropriateness for patient population, required technological infrastructure, website loading speed, time demands on faculty, learning value, and comprehensiveness of content. Based on evaluation, a score between 1 and 4 stars (4 being highly recommended) was awarded to each resource. Detailed resource evaluations were then hosted on our synDRME website.
Results:
A new website was developed to host resource evaluations and for easier access. A total of 268 online resources were evaluated covering 15 traditional medical school courses (e.g. anatomy, pediatrics). These evaluations and links to resources have been uploaded to the synDRME site.
Conclusions:
We were able to provide recommendations for 268 existing educational resources that can substitute for faculty-lead classroom experiences. This is an ongoing project, and the course evaluations are being compiled on a website and made available online via www.syndrme.org. What is most important is that we have established a comprehensive rubric to guide medical school deans and faculty in the developing world so they can rate and compare the usefulness of these new resources for their students.
Comments
Presented at: GW Research Days 2016