title: A university extension course in leprosy: telemedicine in the Amazon for primary healthcare.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, Sao Paulo, SP 01246-903, Brazil. mauricio@telemedicina.fm.usp.br
authors.forename: Maurício Pedreira
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Paixão
authors.forename: Hélio Amante
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Miot
authors.forename: Pedro Elias
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Ana Estela
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.forename: Chao Lung
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: 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