Experimenting with new paradigms for medical education and the emergence of a distance learning degree using the internet: teaching evidence-based medicine

This paper is focused on designing and developing a teaching environment associated with an introductory course in evidence-based medicine designed for undergraduates. Attempting to break away from the traditional educational model based on acquisition of factual knowledge, we developed a software tool centred on content management, student assessment and feedback. We ran this course on an educational website, using chat rooms and electronic mail for trainer-trainee communication over one academic year. The website served as a repository for knowledge and information and presented freestanding web-based interactive study modules and a non-interactive degree course. Trainers and trainees responded favourably to the computer applications and the Internet. This project demonstrated the feasibility of computer-aided learning and the advantages of distance teaching over the Internet.