Students in the first year of the graduate-entry medical course (GEC) have a lot to learn - some more than others - and fitting invaluable clinical contact into an already heavy timetable has typically been a formidable challenge.
That's why GEC Course Director Dr Richard Harrington decided to run his case-based seminars (using clinical details and photographs of real patients attending his own GP practice) online. The VLE (WebLearn) lets you create an online learning environment similar to a classroom seminar, he says, where students can develop strong clinical observation and history-taking skills, as well as engaging in creative discussion - often more freely and widely than in a face-to-face situation - from which everyone can learn.
The Forum tool didn't only allow the students space to research their answers, it also stimulated me to do the same. As a generalist, I quite often find myself taken to the limits of my knowledge by the GEC students, so the process is educational for me too.
– Dr Richard Harrington, Associate Director of the graduate-entry medical course (GEC)
