e-learning for medical colleges

							e-Learning Resources
for Medical Colleges in
        INDIA
       DR.T.V.RAO MD
                    Learning is…

 Learning is the sharing
  or transfer of
  information between
  two parties. Over the
  course of time, many
  modalities and theories
  about learning have
  been elucidated with
  varying degrees of
  effectiveness
Today’s Students are intelligent, can
 adopt to Newer Technologies faster
Learning to   e-learning
               E-learning is also
                called Web-based
                learning, online
                learning, distributed
                learning, computer-
                assisted instruction,
                or Internet-based
                learning
 Computers and Medical Education

 Computers are increasingly
  used in medical education.
  Electronic learning (e-
  learning) is moving from
  textbooks in electronic
  format (that are
  increasingly enhanced by
  the use of multimedia
  adjuncts) to a truly
  interactive medium that
  can be delivered to meet
  the educational needs of
  students and postgraduate
  learners
Computers and Medical
      Education
            Computers are increasingly
             used in medical education.
             Electronic learning (e-
             learning) is moving from
             textbooks in electronic
             format (that are
             increasingly enhanced by
             the use of multimedia
             adjuncts) to a truly
             interactive medium that
             can be delivered to meet
             the educational needs of
             students and postgraduate
             learners
     Advantages of Computers in
             Education
 Computer technology
  can present reliable,
  reusable content in a
  format that is
  convenient to the
  learner. It can be used
  to transcend
  geographical
  boundaries and time
  zones
Computer enters the Class Room
                With increasing
                 prevalence of
                 computers in and out of
                 the classroom and the
                 development of more
                 sophisticated web-
                 based tools, knowledge
                 transfer is increasing
                 going high-tech
        Foundation of Medical
              Education
 Medical education had
  as its foundation a
  combination of
  didactic instruction in
  the classroom and
  integrated, hands-on
  "Socratic Method"
  learning in the clinical
  setting.
   Medical Education Bogged
         with Problems
 Medical education, in India apart from several
  Developing Nations especially in the
  advances stages of training, has many unique
  problems such as the temporal and
  geographic distribution of students,
  residents, and the physician instructors.
  Further complications result from
  unpredictable schedules that are present in
  most areas of medicine leading to poorly
  attended or cancelled lectures.
      Didactic lectures
 The problems with
  traditional didactic lectures
  is that they often present
  information that targets
  one of the many learning
  style of the students
  involved. In addition, the
  time and resources
  required to deliver the
  material is high and often
  does not completely meet
  the needs of those who are
  participating
Knowledge Transfer a Growing
         Challenge
               Effective
                knowledge transfer
                is of paramount
                importance for the
                maintenance and
                advancement of
                our health care
                system
E-learning is Multidimensional

 E-learning adds many
  dimensions to the
  educational process
  and if utilized well, has
  the potential to
  enhance both the
  students and
  instructors educational
  experience.
       India needs a Great Change
  Young Doctors are our great resource

 We live in a time and age where information
  technology is a part of every field in
  everyone's life In India bright young minds
  have to be inspired to incorporate technology
  with academics. The future of modern
  education begins here, with the minds of the
  future doctors. You are the ones who will
  aspire to be ahead of your time.
 Computer Technology
 Computer technology, more specifically web-
  based tools open the door for collaboration
  amongst students and teachers, the
  development of updated, web-based learning
  platforms that are easy to use from a student
  and a teacher prospective. Medical education is
  beginning to embrace a new modality of
  knowledge transfer e-learning. Web-based,
  multimedia learning platforms bring about
  numerous possibilities not easily met with
  traditional didactic instruction
e-learning becomes Commercial

 Many companies
 producing medical
 technology offer
 product details online -
 sometimes combined
 with E-learning courses.
 Whereas the main focus
 lies on guides to using
 their devices, some
 medical further training
 classes can be found.
e-learning helps in Interactive
            Skills
                 Centres on the
                  production of interactive
                  scenarios that allow
                  trainees to develop and
                  practice the key skills
                  outlined in the
                  curriculum by dealing
                  with life-like cases.
                  Trainees will make
                  differential diagnoses
                  and develop
                  management plans to
                  tackle these cases
Newer learning becomes easier with
            e-learning
 The outcomes of the
  cases depend on the
  actions of trainees.
  These scenarios will also
  provide the opportunity
  for trainees to revise key
  concepts and gain
  essential new knowledge
  through linked
  interactive sessions.
  Internet can be Teacher ?

 The most demanding role for Internet lies on
  the availability of products/ services where
  the consumer led revolution has already
  made a considerable progress i.e. in the field
  of education. There are two scope of
  education learning – teaching and learning in
  other words training and educating. In a
  ordered education both has a role in a
  suitable proportion
New technologies helps in easier
            Learning
 All the Medical
  Students having
  received basic
  information proceeds
  to flourish into self-
  learning and eventually
  understand with the
  ongoing process of
  exploration and
  discovery.
e-learning overcomes the newer
    challenges in education
                 Demand for technical
                  and professional
                  education is rising with
                  advent of the society to
                  be prepared for the next
                  century challenges of the
                  universe. Evolution
                  through adaptation or
                  adoption of technology
                  is the only successful
                  answer for this
                  preparation
Pedagogy and Technology can be
     a right combination
 Pedagogy and
 technology always
 maintains a closed
 cycle between
 them. Sometimes
 pedagogy invents
 technology and
 sometimes uses it.
 Advantages of e-learning
 1 Availability of more reliable and cheaper
  means.
 2 Ensure the understanding or learning process.
 3 Exploiting the available resources fully.
 4. Incorporate with traditional way of teaching.
 5 Make a conducive environment.
 6. Pre-services, in-services and post services
  training and development strengthened to cover
  effective use of materials.
 Advantages of e-learning
 7 Develop a participatory program
  approaches.
 8 Easy Incorporation of commercial/ private
  players in the field.
 9 Incorporation of Academics, Research
  Institutes, student representatives.
 10 Flexibility in the e-learning programs like
  availability of special classes, assisting
  faculty, print materials and so on.
  PRESENT SCENERIO IN INDIA
     e-health resources
 Symbiosis center of Healthcare
 Pune has successfully implemented e-
 learning and is offering Post graduate courses
 in Medico-legal and Healthcare Management
 enabling e-learning doctors, nurses and other
 medical related professionals from all over
 the globe are currently able to get their Post
 Graduate Degree from the comfort of their
 own place
    GlaxoSmithKline
 GlaxoSmithKline has licensed part of
  Ingenuity Pathways Knowledge Base to
  facilitate genome-wide computational
  analysis of biological systems underlying
  diseases. There are lots of sources of
  biological content out there, but nothing is of
  the breadth (genome-scale) and quality
  (human curated information) of our offering
 WHO     provides several resources in
             Health Information
 Development of
  various online
  medical libraries
  like WHO-
  discussion forum,
  Health Information
  of India providing
  Health Online
  Library.
Future Education will be supported by
          Multimedia tools
                    . The ability to engage
                     many facets of a
                     student using
                     multimedia material
                     has the added
                     advantage of covering
                     the many learning
                     styles present in the
                     diverse student
                     population in the
                     medical field
e-learning empowers Students and
          Teacher too…
 The use of multimedia
  coupled with the
  tracking of
  effectiveness and
  collaboration of both
  students and faculty
  leads to a platform that
  continues to evolve in
  both effectiveness and
  efficiency
        Several Resources on www
         strengthen e-learning
 E-learning is widely used in
  medical education and
  becomes more important
  every year. Networm
  (www.networm-online.net)
  is an initiative of several
  universities with the aim to
  develop and disseminate
  case-based e-learning for
  international use in
  undergraduate,
  postgraduate and
  continuing medical
  education.
E-learning saves time of Teacher and
               Student
 Compared to the
  conventional system the
  most important
  advantages of teaching
  by multimedia tools are
  both self-determination
  in learning time and
  method and their
  interactivity. The user is
  able to determine the
  intensity of his learning
  process himself.
e-learning creates enthusiasm

                e-learning has the
                 advantage of
                 being able to
                 study apart from
                 time and place
                 and students are
                 more enthusiastic
                 about
      Medical Colleges in
             INDIA
 Majority of the medical colleges were
  established in the 50s & 60s by the state and
  the central government. But since 1980s
  many private colleges emerged all across
  India. The quality and the standard of the
  medical institutes are looked after by Medical
  Council of India. The body has presently
  recognized several Indian medical schools
  which has the total capacity to educate
  > 31298 students.
Poor infrastructure and quality of Teachers
      hampering the Medical Colleges

 In spite of the presence
  of all the regulatory
  mechanisms, barring
  few, most of the
  medical colleges across
  the country are grossly
  lacking competent
  teachers, well stocked
  library leave aside
  adequate teaching
  material
Overcoming the Problems???
              In order to bridge the
               knowledge gap few
               tertiary level academic
               medical institutions took
               interest in developing pilot
               studies by networking
               peripheral medical colleges
               with broad band
               satellite and ISDN link
               and providing need based
               educational content in an
               interactive
               videoconference mode
 India growing concern with
     Medical Education
. The growing criticism that our medical
   colleges are producing graduates who are not
   well equipped to tackle the health car needs
   of the society
 While the graduates generally possess
   reasonably sound knowledge of medical
   science, they are often found deficient in
   the performance of clinical skills and
   problem-solving which form the core of
   clinical competence
Our Curriculum stuffed with
   theoretical Ideas ???
 The medical colleges in India have
  traditionally followed a curriculum stuffed
  with a large body of knowledge pertaining to
  basic science and clinical disciplines. Once
  qualified, students are expected to synthesise
  this information and apply it to the care of
  the patients. With the expanding body of
  knowledge, there is over-burdening of the
  student with the content information.
   Commercialisation of Medical
            Profession
 The
 commercialisation
 of medical
 profession is cited
 as a common
 reason for the
 dilution of quality,
 doubts have been
 raised regarding
 the quality of
 training.
  Can we solve the Problems in
       Medical Education
 The ultimate problem in medical education is
  a crisis of leadership. Until education is given
  a priority status and the obligations to teach
  on the part of medical educators and to learn
  on the part of students are translated into a
  creative policy by those who can lead, the
  wheels of learning will continue to spin
  without significant progress.
     e-learning can reduce the
     present crisis in Medical
             Education
 Formation, devolvement and updation of data
  material/ information available in continuation
  and progressive series for the use.
 Support to the flow and reception (ensure the
  best utilization)
 Taking continuous feedback and action
  accordingly for further improvement.
 Reduce the unit cost of education at a time of -
  expansion of educational opportunities. a more
  customized user-friendly form of learning.
Many advances can achieved with
 Networking the communication
 Advancement in Telecommunications and
 Information technology provides an
 opportunity to bridge the knowledge gap by
 networking academic medical centres of
 excellence with peripheral medical colleges
 to practice distance learning in the form of
 interactive virtual class room, teleconference
 of operative procedures, accessing library,
 web enabled teaching activities etc
Can think of Better methods to
  carry with present system
 With the phenomenal changes in
 educational and information technology,
 the role of teacher has undergone dramatic
 changes. He/she is expected to possess skills
 and abilities to plan the curriculum, make
 rational use of the media technology and
 design an assessment strategy
     Government of India supports the
 Institutions with Information Technology

 Department of
  Information Technology
  and Indian Space
  Research Organisation of
  Government of India
  have now agreed in
  principle to support
  setting up a nation wide
  medical institution
  network in a phase wise
  manner.
       We can develop our own
        Educational Content
 We should be responsible for developing
  medical educational contents, hence, will be
  provided infrastructure for grabbing, editing
  and storing video materials in the digital
  format. The content will be shared by all the
  nodes connected in the network
 The network will enable to establish a virtual
  university as well as a digital library network
  among the participating medical institutions.
e-learning gaining prominence
          in India
                E-learning or electronic
                 learning in India is
                 gaining prominence
                 slowly, but indeed
                 steadily. This is due to
                 the fact that more than
                 half the population of
                 India today is below 25
                 years of age and the
                 number of Internet users
                 are growing continuously
    Technology rules the World

 We are surrounded
    by technology; we
    can choose to resist
    it, or we can
    embrace it...I
    choose to embrace
    it!
   Barbara K. Smalla - Technology
    Support Specialist
Indian Medical Colleges should create
        Own Digital Library
 A digital library is a library
  in which collections are
  stored in digital formats (as
  opposed to print,
  microform, or other media)
  and accessible by
  computers. The digital
  content may be stored
  locally, or accessed
  remotely via computer
  networks. A digital library
  is a type of information
  retrieval system
Several sources available to
   build Digital Library
               Project Gutenberg, Google
                Book Search, Internet
                Archive, Cornell University,
                The Library of Congress
                World Digital Library, The
                Digital Library at the
                University of Michigan, the
                Greenstone digital library
                at the University of
                Waikato, and Carnegie
                Mellon University's Million
                Book Project are
                considered leaders in the
                field of digital library
                creation and management
www.medicalstudent.com
     www.medicalstudent.com

 The site introduces itself as “a digital library of
  authoritative medical information for all
  students of medicine.” It offers a starting point
  for medical resources on the world wide web by
  selecting representative websites, from scientific
  ones to the less academic. All the sites are
  selected by a process of peer review. The home
  page lacks images and is constructed as a
  structured list, divided in sections, each
  containing links to the selected websites.
 The website also has a Medical Journal
  section and a Medical Organizations section,
  gathering links to many main journals and
  organisations, respectively, which are
  thought to be of interest to student If its
  online medical dictionaries, Internet
  directories or search engines that you want to
  find, this website provides you with some
  options for this as well.
Podcasts are great learning tools

 A podcast (or non-
  streamed webcast) is a
  series of digital media
  files (either audio or
  video) that are released
  episodically and often
  downloaded through
  web syndication. The
  word usurped webcast in
  common vernacular, due
  to rising popularity of the
  iPod and the innovation
  of web feeds.
Podcasts are Educative
            Podcasts enable
             students and teachers to
             share information with
             anyone anytime. If a
             student is absent, he or
             she can download the
             podcast of the recorded
             lesson. Teachers may
             also create podcasts to
             be used as a preparation
             tool for students.
  Your IPod is not just for
music but can be your Teacher
 Your I Pod is a great
  storage machine ,
  you can carry
  thousands of
  Lectures by greatest
  teachers in the world.
 Your intelligent
  search is the limit
Telehealth and Telemedicine

 Telehealth is an expansion of telemedicine, and
  unlike telemedicine (which more narrowly
  focuses on the curative aspect) it encompasses
  preventive, promotive and curative aspects.
  Originally used to describe administrative or
  educational functions related to telemedicine,
  today telehealth stresses a myriad of technology
  solutions. For example, physicians use email to
  communicate with patients, order drug
  prescriptions and provide other health services.
Telehealth
      Telehealth is the delivery
       of health-related services
       and information via
       telecommunications
       technologies. Telehealth
       delivery could be as simple
       as two health professionals
       discussing a case over the
       telephone, or as
       sophisticated as using
       videoconferencing
       between providers at
       facilities in two countries,
       or even as complex as
       robotic technology.
 Definition of Telemedicine
          ( WHO )
 According to World Health Organisation,
  telemedicine is defined as, “The delivery of
  healthcare services, where distance is a critical
  factor, by all healthcare professionals using
  information and communication technologies for
  the exchange of valid information for diagnosis,
  treatment and prevention of disease and injuries,
  research and evaluation, and for continuing
  education of healthcare providers, all in the
  interests of advancing the health of individuals
  and their communities”.
         Telemedicine
 Telemedicine is a rapidly
  developing application of
  clinical medicine where
  medical information is
  transferred through
  interactive audiovisual
  media for the purpose of
  consulting, and
  sometimes remote
  medical procedures or
  examinations.
     Clinical uses of telehealth
            technologies
 Transmission of medical images for diagnosis (often
    referred to as store and forward telehealth)
   Groups or individuals exchanging health services or
    education live via videoconference (real-time
    telehealth)
   Transmission of medical data for diagnosis or
    disease management (sometimes referred to as
    remote monitoring)
   Advice on prevention of diseases and promotion of
    good health by patient monitoring and followup.
   Health advice by telephone in emergent cases
    (referred to as teletriage)
      Nonclinical uses of
    telehealth technologies
 Distance education including continuing
  medical education, grand rounds, and patient
  education
  Administrative uses including meetings
  among telehealth networks, supervision, and
  presentations research on telehealth
  Online Information and health data
  management healthcare system integration
Nonclinical uses of telehealth
         technologies
 Healthcare system
  integration asset
  identification, listing,
  and patient to
  Asset matching, and
  movement.
  Overall healthcare
  system management
  Patient movement and
  remote admission
   Development of Telemedicine
           Technology
 The Ministry of Communications and
  Information Technology, Government of
  India, has classified "Telemedicine" as one of
  the thrust areas for development in the
  country. In sync with the policy, the
  Government initiated a project called
  "Development of Telemedicine Technology".
Telemedicine of ISRO’s is one of the
         Best in the World
All Medical Colleges should build,
  organize own Digital Libraries
What is a DIGITAL LIBRARY?
 No single, all-encompassing answer
 Several perspectives
   from different communities - different agendas
 Little communication among them
 Coherent, integrating concept, approach not yet
  emerged
 Complex problems in any approach
   Many experiments; many experts & “experts”
 Highly exiting & volatile area



                                        ©            66
 How digital libraries work

 Digital libraries hold metadata records, and
  sometimes primary content
 Have a defined scope of content, intended
  audience
 Metadata describes the resource content, the
  intended user audience, resource type and
  other characteristics
 Search over metadata and/or primary
  content to retrieve information about and
  links to relevant resources
Research perspective
"Digital libraries are organized collections of digital
  information. They combine the structuring and
  gathering of information, which libraries and archives
  have always done, with the digital representation
  that computers have made possible.”            Lesk, 1997


“Digital library is a managed collection of information,
  with associated services, where information is stored
  in digital formats and accessible over a network.”
  Arms, 2000




                                                              68
      Advantages: Why digital
            libraries?
 Access: brings library
  to users
   always available; better
    and wider delivery
   many libraries now
    possible to use
 Sharing: information
  resources; linking
 Timeliness: easier to
  keep current
Learning becomes personal
              Searching, browsing:
               use of computer power
              Information resources:
               new forms possible
              Services: new & new
               forms possible
              Costs: may save effort,
               money
India awaiting Digital
   Book Revolution
e-book can replace old Textbooks
 An e-book (short for
  electronic book and also
  known as a digital book,
  eBook, and eBook) is an
  e-text that forms the
  digital media equivalent of
  a conventional printed
  book, sometimes
  restricted with a digital
  rights management
  system E-books are usually
  read on dedicated
  hardware devices known as
  e-Readers or e-book devices
Medical Council of India should
            take up

         As the Medical Council of India controls,
     regulates the Infrastrure, staff pattern and
    training protocols. Should take up the issues
    related to e-learning, establishing Digital
 libraries, Tele Medicine as apriority to overcome
the several lacuna in the prevailing situation in the
 country, as we are preparing theoretical Doctors
      and least prepared to practice Medicine on
        Scientific Basis to changing demands
 Created by Dr.T.V.Rao MD for benefit of
          Medical Professionals

                 Email
        doctortvrao@gmail.com