Volume 16 Number 3, SPRING 1999

virtual med school

Stanford's online curriculum offers a way to catch a class from afar.

THIS YEAR MARKS THE FIRST THAT THE ENTIRE FIRST-YEAR STANFORD MEDICAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM IS AVAILABLE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB. WITH A STANDARD COMPUTER MODEM AND A STANFORD IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, THIS YEAR'S FRESHMAN MEDICAL STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO SEE AND HEAR THEIR LECTURES FROM THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOMES -- OR FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.

The effort, called the Curriculum Web Project, offers online versions of class handouts and visuals, as well as digitized videos of class lectures.

The goal is to support every preclinical course on the Web and tie in as many resources as possible in one place, says Jenn Stringer, curriculum applications manager for Stanford University Medical Media and Information Technologies (SUMMIT). "Students see the Curriculum Web as the one place to get what they need," she says.

The project began three years ago, but was completely revamped last summer. This year marked a significant increase in the quantity and quality of teaching materials available at the Web site, as well as a more focused effort on development and integration of the Web site into day-to-day teaching. Interactive quizzes, virtual microscopy and an online nutrition course are being added to the Curriculum Web Project. But it is the digitized lectures that are drawing the most excitement.

The medical school takes pride in its flexible curriculum, and lectures have been videotaped for many years in keeping with that philosophy. But the traditional videotapes had to be viewed on campus at the Fleischmann Learning Resource Center. And while videos could be digitized, accessing them was prohibitively time-consuming because they first had to be downloaded to the computer's hard drive -- a project that would have taken 12 to 18 hours.

The advent of a new technology, called streaming, means that the user can begin viewing the video as soon as the first few seconds are downloaded. The remainder loads onto the computer while the user is browsing.

Visitors accessing the digital curriculum of the histology course can view the most comprehensive example of what the new technology offers. When the video of a lecture appears on the Web, it is accompanied by magnified images of the histological sections being discussed. For example, as Pat Cross, PhD, associate professor of structural biology and course director for histology, appears on the left side of the screen dynamically describing specific cells and structures, an image of the tissue in microscopic detail is displayed on the right.

The histology course home page also includes panels of 350 interactive slides for different body tissues and organs. As users click on the slides with a computer mouse, individual cell types are identified and highlighted.

At the home page for the course Preparation for Clinical Medicine, students can watch a video of a physical examination. The video, produced in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, shows a physician examining a patient's head and neck, limbs, anterior thorax and back. The physician also demonstrates the technique for measuring blood pressure and conducts a neurological exam on the patient.

Faculty opinions about the digital curriculum cover a wide spectrum. Some faculty have reservations, fearing that a few students may rely on the Web site for all instruction and never go to class. Donald Regula, MD, associate professor of pathology and course director of Pathology 230B, feels that certain components such as interactive quizzes are perfect for distance learning, but streaming video over the Web needs to be addressed more carefully. "You can't teach the interactive part of being a physician long distance," he says. "Medicine has a core attitude of engaging patients and ultimately the laying on of hands, and anything that detracts from that attitude can be damaging."

But Ben Barres, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology and course director of Neurobiology 200, is enthusiastic. "I think it's phenomenally great," he says. "It's very nice to have things recorded in case a student misses a class, and it's also a good tool for faculty learning."

The Curriculum Web Project is funded by SUMMIT and the Office of Student Affairs. Medical students can gain full access to the site at http://cwp.stanford.edu. The site also has a link to a demonstration course for anyone interested in viewing the project's highlights. ­ KRISTIN WEIDENBACH