POSTER

POSTER

Rx for Mediocrity. The Rise and Fall of a Continuing Medical Education Website

Kent Judkins
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport . LA, USA

ABSTRACT:

A set of web pages designed to demonstrate and encourage effective doctor/patient communication were altered by committee following a focus group of residents who preferred to skip the narrative and cut to tables of facts. Because the committee gave the doctors power to decide on the style of the training, the pages were changed to a point that they no longer taught the principles of doctor/patient communication. In this presentation, we compare elements of the original online CME with the ‘doctor committee’ altered pages and show how some of its original objectives were lost.

In analyzing this particular case of web pages that went from better to worse, we will show that medical professionals do not always know what is best for themselves and that they may not be the ideal candidates to critique medical continuing education materials. We also suggest alternate ways to test and refine similar medical training material while holding onto the original learning objectives.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

Participants can learn from our experience in creating a continuing medical education Website. Most importantly they will see the importance of a well thought out evaluation process which can enhance the training. This case study in "web design by medical committee" should alert and amuse web educators when they see what can happen when design control is left in the wrong hands.

Kent Judkins, MA Multimedia
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
1501 Kings Hiway
Shreveport, LA 71130
Phone: (318) 675-4596
Fax: (318) 675-7757
Email: kjudki@lsuhsc.edu

CO-AUTHORS:
Mark Platt, Ph.D
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
1501 Kings Hiway
Shreveport, LA 71130
Phone: (318) 675-4452
Fax: (318) 675-7757
Email: mplatt@lsuhsc.edu