Using the internet to supplement core curriculum in ob–gyn training

Abstract

Purpose: Medical student clinical rotations and resident training historically have been times for applying concepts learned in the basic sciences to the actual delivery of health care. Unfortunately, the explosion in clinical knowledge and the ever-expanding requirements of the clinical core curriculum have created a challenge to ensure the quality of the educational content that has been delivered to students. The advent of the Internet and students’ easy access to online information have added a new dimension to this problem. Method: We have developed a web site that allows educators to supervise and manage health information content accessed via the Internet. The web site uses a new search portal technology to provide assisted access to trusted sites and content that is appropriate for the topic under discussion for a given lecture or patient or both. Launching directly from an online version of the lecture notes, or from a case, the portal brings back trusted content dynamically from any word or phrase on the page. Results: The site allows monitoring of the topics on which students and residents seek information and which they may have neglected for a given case or lecture. This is an evolving project. Conclusion: We hope that this portal will be a useful tool for students and educators. As other sites and content are developed by trusted institutions as well as by our own faculty, we believe these technologies will become an important supplement to the existing training in obstetrics and gynecology.