A university extension course in leprosy: telemedicine in the Amazon for primary healthcare.
There is a high prevalence of leprosy in the Amazon region of Brazil. We have developed a distance education course in leprosy for training staff of the Family Health Teams (FHTs). The course was made available through a web portal. Tele-educational resources were mediated by professors and coordinators, and included the use of theoretical content available through the web, discussion lists, Internet chat, activity diaries, 3-D video animations (Virtual Human on Leprosy), classes in video streaming and case simulation. Sixty-five FHT staff members were enrolled. All of them completed the course and 47 participants received a certificate at the end of the course. At the end of the course, 48 course-evaluation questionnaires were answered. A total of 47 participants (98%) considered the course as excellent. The results demonstrate the feasibility of an interactive, tele-education model as an educational resource for staff in isolated regions. Improvements in diagnostic skills should increase diagnostic suspicion of leprosy and may contribute to early detection.
Paixão
Maurício Pedreira
MP
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, Sao Paulo, SP 01246-903, Brazil. mauricio@telemedicina.fm.usp.br
Miot
Hélio Amante
HA
de Souza
Pedro Elias
PE
Haddad
Ana Estela
AE
Wen
Chao Lung
CL
D001938:Brazil; D020375:Education, Distance / Q000379:methods*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017216:Telemedicine; D049269:Videoconferencing / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards