IVI-Madrid, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
Sir,
We read with great interest the manuscript by Whittington et al. (2004) regarding e-learning on reproductive medicine. The authors very nicely illustrate many of the advantages and difficulties faced by distance teaching from both students and staff. This field is an area that is usually approached by professionals in a later stage of their studiesusually as postgraduate trainingwhen the majority are full time employed. Thus, the most frequent complaint by doctors and scientists requesting training is their lack of time to fully devote 12 years for such training. Even more, the classical way of teaching, the traditional face-to-face lecture, although not eliminated, is giving way to more interactive strategies to motivate and implicate the students (i.e. problem-oriented seminars or group discussions) following the principle: I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I learn.
The internet offers an excellent tool to run, deliver and support a great variety of continuing education and postgraduate programmes. Providing mostif not allfactual content over the web (via text, slide shows, or web-based audio lectures) offers a flexible study model, which combined with appropriate support from tutors (through email, discussion boards, chats or even presence-based workshops), adds up for a highly attractive study method.
Due to the many requests for training received in our Department from Spanish speaking countries, mainly from working physicians and embryologists willing to further develop their knowledge in reproductive endocrinology but unable to stop their work and spend a long period of time in our unit, we developed a Masters Degree in Human Reproduction together with a public university from our city, Rey Juan Carlos University (www.urjc.es). Our pilot experience in 2002, with no marketing or advertisement, recruited 11 students from Spain and different countries across Latin America (Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Chile).
Topics were grouped in six modules, covering all aspects of human reproduction, from clinical diagnosis, patient management and embryology to basic research techniques (http://www.ivi.es/profesionales/cursos/masterurjc). Every week during a 12 month period, a topic was covered, with a tutorial lecture and recommended readings accessible on the web to the students. At the end of each week, students submitted the answers to a multiple choice questionnaire. Although we tried to encourage students to participate in a weekly web-based chat discussion, due to the different geographical locations and time frames, participation was low, especially after the first few months. Most of the communication was covered by email with the weekly assigned tutor, with whom the students could discuss the topic covered as well as ambiguous questions. Probably, an electronic bulletin board would be a more efficient method to conduct discussions and complement distance education than email (Letterie et al., 1996).
Each participant was scheduled a rotation of 6 weeks at our Department so they could spend time in practical sessions, from patient work-up and surgery sessions to sperm and IVF laboratory procedures. At the end of the programme, participants were to submit a research project that together with their returned questionnaires and their evaluation during the 6 weeks' stage accounted for their final grade.
As mentioned by Whittington et al. (2004), we fully agree that the key factors that motivate these students to attend this type of courses are (i) a flexible study planavailable from home and with no fixed schedules; and (ii) distance learning (80% mentioned that this was the reason to choose this course, among others, and 64% required more of the course to be delivered on line in the mentioned study). Our students' satisfaction was rated highly in a questionnaire submitted after the graduation of the first class, based primarily on these two factors. In fact, in this 2nd edition, we have received 75 enquiries, and 30 formal applications have been accepted, 200% higher than in 2002, as a result of the high demand existing in this field.
Again, the most significant difficulty encountered was motivation from the students to participate in electronic discussions and feed-back from their tutors. It is difficult to find equilibrium between time spent at the unit, away from their countries or employment, which we have established at 6 weeks, and web-based tuition. Further experience from both staff and tutors, and careful planning together with present and future technology that improves interaction and discussion, will increase the quality of this new way of teaching.
References
Letterie G, Salminen ER and McClure GB (1996) An electronic bulletin board for instruction in reproductive endocrinology in a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Fertil Steril 65, 883885.[ISI][Medline]
Whittington K, Cook J, Barratt C and Jenkins J (2004) Can the Internet widen participation in reproductive medicine education for professionals? Hum Reprod 19, 18001805.