Pathology education in a multisite urban/rural distributed curriculum.

To address concerns about regional physician shortages within British Columbia, the University of British Columbia began distributing its undergraduate medical curriculum across multiple campuses (ie, urban Vancouver, small urban Victoria, and rural Prince George) in 2005. The distribution of the pathology curriculum required meeting 3 specific challenges: (i) implementation of high-quality technologies to facilitate distribution; (ii) recruitment of pathologists to teach; and (iii) creation of an electronic pathology learning center. Technological needs were met by a state-of-the-art audiovisual system allowing simultaneous interactive didactic sessions across all 3 sites, and by the use of a digital "virtual slide" system. Recruitment of pathologist educators proved challenging owing to comparatively limited staffing levels at the rural site. A physical and virtual pathology learning center was developed to assist students in self-directed study. Student performance on pathology examinations has proven to be essentially identical pre- and post-distribution, and is equivalent across all 3 sites. Quantitative and qualitative student survey data show that distributed pathology instruction is overwhelmingly well received by medical students at all sites, that pathologists' expertise is very important to students, and that pathology is one of the most popular components of the distributed curriculum. Pathology education continues to be a vital part of a distributed undergraduate medical program, and student grades and feedback demonstrate the value of the teaching and the technologies we have used. To be implemented successfully, the distribution of pathology education requires considerable financial and infrastructure investment, and ongoing commitment from pathologists and university administrators.

A new paradigm for teaching histology laboratories in Canada's first distributed medical school.

To address the critical problem of inadequate physician supply in rural British Columbia, The University of British Columbia (UBC) launched an innovative, expanded and distributed medical program in 2004-2005. Medical students engage in a common curriculum at three geographically distinct sites across B.C.: in Vancouver, Prince George and Victoria. The distribution of the core Histology course required a thorough revision of our instructional methodology. We here report our progress and address the question "How does one successfully distribute Histology teaching to remote sites while maintaining the highest of educational standards?" The experience at UBC points to three specific challenges in developing a distributed Histology curriculum: (i) ensuring equitable student access to high quality histological images, (ii) designing and implementing a reliable, state-of-the-art technological infrastructure that allows for real-time teaching and interactivity across geographically separate sites and (iii) ensuring continued student access to faculty content expertise. High quality images--available through any internet connection--are provided within a new virtual slide box library of 300 light microscopic and 190 electron microscopic images. Our technological needs are met through a robust and reliable videoconference system that allows for live, simultaneous communication of audio/visual materials across the three sites. This system also ensures student access to faculty content expertise during all didactic teaching sessions. Student examination results and surveys demonstrate that the distribution of our Histology curriculum has been successful.