Creating the essential links for educating the evidence-based medical practitioner of the 21st century

A new postgraduate Medical (MBBS) program at the University of Queensland has been the catalyst for the development of a range of University of Queensland (UQ) Cybrary initiatives, in areas of information resources, services and support. Over the past seven years the UQ Cybrary has successfully integrated library services into the problem-based learning and the e-learning environment of the MBBS Program. Information and communications technology developments have been harnessed by the Cybrary to support the needs of the Program which are dispersed throughout the vast state of Queensland. In particular, there has been a focus on using information and communications technology (ICT) to provide efficient and equitable access for all those involved with UQ city and rural health education. The Cybrary has risen to the challenge of providing information services and resources to support evidence-based practice (EBP) and lifelong learning, ultimately contributing towards achieving an outstanding medical workforce for the 21st Century. This paper will outline how the UQ Cybrary has addressed these issues, particularly in the areas of integration of online materials in the e-learning environment, the development and delivery of tailored information literacy programs and the use of ICT to support access to information and services

Rural but not remote! Access in outback Australia. Report on the implementation of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for medical students, clinical teaching staff and health librarians at the Rural Clinical Division, School of Medicine, University of Que

Funding to provide 95 Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to medical students, located at the Rural Clinical Divisions (RCD) in outback Australian Queensland regions, was obtained in 2003 from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The PDA Project commenced in October 2003 and will continue until the end of 2004. The objectives of the Project were to provide access to authoritative, evidence-based information to rural medical students at their point of need and to address equity issues for students placed in remote or isolated areas with limited access to information and technology infrastructure. The project will be used to identify how such technology can help to educate and prepare students for practicing medicine in the 21st Century and as a means to identify appropriate resources, training and support required to utilise PDAs. The Herston Medical Library, University of Queensland, provided a senior Liaison Librarian as the Rural Pack Project Coordinator, along with two Liaison Librarians, who are based at the rural sites in the Central Region and the South West Region of Queensland, each working at the main hospital within each region. The Coordinator of the Project has led a team of clinicians, librarians, information technology representatives, a medical education officer and medical students to evaluate the technology. Included on each PDA distributed to PDA Project participants are e-resources, including a major drug index, medical textbooks, a medical dictionary and a medical calculator. The Microsoft Office Suite of software, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are also included on each PDA. A report on the implementation of the Project, study design and outcomes reported during 2004 is provided. Various challenges, such as licensing complexities, that were encountered with the introduction of this innovative service are outlined, as well as future plans

"Piece it Together": Insights From One Year of Engagement With Electronics and Programming for People With Intellectual Disabilities

We present the results of one year spent engaging people living with intellectual disabilities with an electronics and programming package. The program was run in collaboration with a disability support organization and delivered by support workers. We evaluate key qualities of the package at three sites via ongoing communication and reflective interviews with five support workers, along with observation of sessions and contextual inquiry with eleven people with a range of disabilities. Our findings demonstrate the importance of physicality in enabling experiences by creating real-world analogues and supporting diverse group interactions; how groups support members’ attention, motivating each other, and allow space for coping mechanisms; and participants’ growing confidence and creativity in problem solving, and the emergence of self-directed activities. We discuss the importance of diverse repetition for skill development, how skills develop over the year, and pragmatic lessons for conducting a long-term research program with a disability support organization