A Report on Internet-Based Epidemiology Distance Learning / 医学教育

ABSTRACT

Epidemiology has played a major role in improving global health in this century. Its importance has increased in the clinical field as well. However, systematic education in epidemiology is conducted only in public health schools in Western countries ; epidemiology is not taught at medical schools. The rapidly growing Internet is being used for distance learning. We took part as teaching assistants in an Internet-based distance learning course in epidemiology offered by the Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. This is the only Internet-based distance learning lecture on epidemiology that is free of charge. Four people in Japan took this course. In this report, we share our experiences with Internet-based distance learning in epidemiology.