title: The challenges of "continuing medical education" in a pandemic era.
abstract: Closure of medical schools or the barring of "live patient" contact during an epidemic or pandemic is potentially disruptive to medical education. During the SARS epidemic, the use of web-based learning, role play, video vignettes and both live and mannequin-based simulated patients minimised disruptions to medical education. This article examines the pedagogical innovations that allow clinical teaching to continue without medical students examining actual patients, and proposes a contingency plan in the event of future outbreaks that may necessitate similar containment measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore. mdcelch@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: Erle C H
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Vernon M S
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Dow-Rhoon
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Raymond C S
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Seet
mesh_terms: D003663:Decision Trees; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; D020407:Internet; D013663:Teaching