Impact on the dermatology educational experience of medical students with the introduction of online teaching support modules to help address the reduction in clinical teaching.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: With increasing medical student numbers and decreasing clinical teaching opportunities, there has been a need to develop alternative learning resources. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a new dermatology online teaching resource, from a student perspective. METHODS: The Australasian College of Dermatologists developed an undergraduate dermatology curriculum and subsequently created online teaching modules in partnership with the University of Sydney. These modules were introduced to final year medical students at the University of Western Australia in 2010. The dermatology learning experiences of these 142 students were compared with the 2009 medical student cohort who did not have access to this resource. A self-administered questionnaire, with a 5-point rating scale, was used. RESULTS: The 2010 cohort described an improved educational experience using the online modules. Despite a reduction in the number of clinics attended, knowledge and skills gained were scored higher among the 2010 cohort. The student's confidence in their ability to manage common dermatological conditions was also statistically higher in the cohort with the online teaching resource. The learning experience for dermatology compared to other subspecialty teaching in medical school was ranked as a significantly more positive experience in the 2010 cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the introduction of the online modules described in this paper to support learning have improved the perceived educational experience of medical students and should be incorporated as a way to improve student teaching in the face of reduced clinic teaching.

'Orf on the ear', in a patient with Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

We report a case of orf on an ear in a patient admitted to hospital following the onset of Guillain-Barré syndrome. While the underlying causes of Guillain-Barré syndrome are not completely understood, immune stimulation appears to play a key role in pathogenesis. Any association between orf infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome has not been documented. A 22-year-old male sheep farmer, who was previously fit and well, presented to his local hospital with a 2-day history of distal upper and lower limb paraesthesia and weakness. He was transferred to a tertiary hospital where the diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome was confirmed. History revealed that he had experienced a mild respiratory illness 3 weeks prior to presentation and an inflamed nodular lesion over his left ear, which had appeared 2 weeks prior to admission. Differential diagnoses of orf, atypical mycobacterial infection, subcutaneous mycosis and a squamous cell carcinoma were considered. Histopathology from a biopsy of the lesion was consistent with orf, which was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction testing. This case is of interest for two reasons: orf has not been described in association with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and orf on the ear is uncommon.