A review of web-based application of online learning in pathology and laboratory medicine.

Web-based learning applications can support health sciences education, including knowledge acquisition in pathology and laboratory medicine. Websites can be developed to provide learning content, assessments, and products supporting pathology education. In this paper, we review informatics principles, practices, and procedures involved with educational website development in the context of existing websites and published studies of educational website usage outcomes, including that of the authors. We provide an overview with analysis of potential results of usage to inform how such websites may be used, and to guide further development. We discuss the value of educational websites for individual users, educational institutions, and professional organizations. Educational websites may offer assessments that are formative, for learning itself, as practice, preparation, and self-assessment. Open access websites have the advantage of worldwide availability 24/7, particularly aiding persons in low resource settings. Commercial offerings for educational support in formal curricula are beyond the scope of this review. This review is intended to guide those interested in website development to support non-commercial educational purposes for users seeking to improve their knowledge and diagnostic skills supporting careers in pathology.

How much is too much reading for medical students? Assigned reading and reading rates at one medical school.

PURPOSE: To determine how medical students' reading rates affect their ability to complete assigned reading. METHOD: The authors calculated the total amount of reading assigned during 71 weeks in 12 modules of the preclinical basic science curriculum at Mercer University School of Medicine for the 2009-2010 academic year. In September 2010, they surveyed the 351 enrolled students, asking them to estimate their reading rates, number of hours spent reading each day, and the amount of the assigned reading they had completed. The authors used the data collected to estimate time required to complete the reading assignments over a range of reading rates and compared these rates with previously published reading rates. RESULTS: Faculty assigned 29,239 pages of reading across the modules. The 104 respondents (30% response rate) reported they could read an average of 6 hours per day. The authors calculated that 17% of the students read no faster than 150 words per minute (WPM), whereas another 66% did not exceed 100 WPM. If students reserved the last week of each module for review prior to an examination, they would need to read 496 pages per week, which would require 28 to 41 hours per week at these rates, to complete the assigned reading only once. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students require significant time to complete assigned reading just once at the reading rates required to comprehend the cognitively challenging material. Before assigning reading, faculty should consider the amount that could reasonably be accomplished by their students.

Going mobile: free and easy.

After almost two decades, mobile technologies are now such a part of the fabric of the hospital environment that hospital libraries must take this opportunity to continue to positively impact health outcomes by providing health professionals with valuable information and services via personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones. This article provides background information on mobile technology use and handheld devices. It describes how hospital librarians, regardless of staff, budget, or access to technology, can position the hospital library to connect health professionals to clinically relevant mobile resources and library services. Suggestions for the promotion of mobile resources are included, as well as tips for keeping current. A significant amount of free content is identified.

Development of a new academic digital library: a study of usage data of a core medical electronic journal collection.

OBJECTIVES: The current study evaluates the results of a previously reported method for creating a core medical electronic journal collection for a new medical school library, validates the core collection created specifically to meet the needs of the new school, and identifies strategies for making cost-effective e-journal selection decisions. METHODS: Usage data were extracted for four e-journal packages (Blackwell-Synergy, Cell Press, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and ScienceDirect). Usage was correlated with weighted point values assigned to a core list of journal titles, and each package was evaluated for relevancy and cost-effectiveness to the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) population. RESULTS: The results indicated that the development of the core list was a valid method for creating a new twenty-first century, community-based medical school library. Thirty-seven journals are identified for addition to the FSU COM core list based on use by the COM, and areas of overlapping research interests between the university and the COM are identified based on use of specific journals by each population. CONCLUSIONS: The collection development approach that evolved at the FSU COM library was useful during the initial stages of identifying and evaluating journal selections and in assessing the relative value of a particular journal package for the FSU COM after the school was established.