Medical student evaluations of lectures attended in person or from rural sites via interactive videoconferencing.
BACKGROUND
Interactive videoconferencing may be an effective way for medical students on remote rotations to attend teaching sessions at the main campus.


OBJECTIVE
To compare medical student evaluations of lectures for those attending in person and those attending through interactive videoconferencing.


METHODS
Lecture evaluations were completed by medical students on University of Vermont College of Medicine clinical clerkship rotations. Students on clerkships at rural sites attended lectures using our telemedicine network. Responses from in-person and remote attendees were compared.


RESULTS
Evaluation forms for 110 lectures were received from 648 in-person and 255 remote attendees. All evaluation items were rated "good" or "excellent" by at least 95% of in-person attendees. Over 90% of remote attendees rated nontelemedicine evaluation items, such as appropriateness of lecture topic for students, as good or excellent. Ratings of telemedicine-specific questions, such as ability to hear the lecturer, were lower.


CONCLUSIONS
Level of satisfaction was high for most aspects of remote lecture attendance, although not quite as high as for in-person attendance. Improved technical reliability would likely increase remote attendee satisfaction. Overall, lecture attendance using videoconferencing was found to be an acceptable alternative to travel for medical students in rural clerkships.
Medical Biostatistics and Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington 05405, USA. peter.callas@uvm.edu
Peter W
PW
Callas
Tania F
TF
Bertsch
Michael P
MP
Caputo
Brian S
BS
Flynn
Stephen
S
Doheny-Farina
Michael A
MA
Ricci
D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020375:Education, Distance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D012424:Rural Population; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D014707:Vermont; D014743:Videotape Recording