Undergraduate Rural Practice Network Project

The Department of Family Practice seeks to provide a supplementary electronic learning environment to over 100 widely dispersed medical students and their preceptors. These are medical students in the summer after their second year who are having their first intensive clinical experience under the direct supervision of a network of preceptors throughout British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories. This environment would include Internet technologies and the development of a web site to provide the capability of:

• Enhancing interactions and communications between dispersed students, preceptors and the University
  Case related literature searches.
• Access to current medical databases, interactive multi-media program and web-based resources.
• Facilitating participation and effective two-way feedback re the quality of the learning experience.
• Logging and profiling learning activities.
• Tracking student progress by student self-assessment of learning objectives.
• Students teaching preceptors medical informatics skills.
• Upgrading the computer and informatics skills of rural practice preceptors.

Robert Woollard, Head, Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine