Abstract
We have developed a computer assisted learning package for teaching clinical medical students about familial breast cancer. It explains the principles of genetic predisposition to breast cancer, the association with other cancers, the principles of family history taking and confirmation, risk assessment and possible interventions. Clinical medical students were randomised to either conventional teaching or CAL, 48 students attended the evaluation session. Students randomised to conventional teaching received a 20 min mini-lecture, those randomised to CAL completed the package with technical, but not academic support available. At the end of the intervention both groups of students completed a short written assessment of acceptability and knowledge and understanding of breast cancer genetics. There was no significant difference between the CAL and mini-lecture groups in terms of marks or acceptability. Thus CAL appears to be an acceptable and effective method of teaching clinical medical students about familial breast cancer. Although time consuming to develop, CAL can be used in a variety of settings to increase curriculum flexibility. Methods of motivating students to complete the CAL, and of providing educational support are being explored.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Hamilton NM. Furnace J, Duguid KP, Helms PJ, Simpson JG . Development and integration of CAL: a case study in medicine Medical Education 1999 33: 298–305
Robinson DA, Lester CR, Hamilton NM . Delivering Computer Assisted Learning across the WWW Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 1998 30: 301–307
Acknowledgements
This research and CAL development was supported by the University of Aberdeen, BM was funded by European Commission (Demonstration Project No. BMH4-CT96-1133).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miedzybrodzka, Z., Hamilton, N., Gregory, H. et al. Teaching undergraduates about familial breast cancer: comparison of a computer assisted learning (CAL) package with a traditional tutorial approach. Eur J Hum Genet 9, 953–956 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200751
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200751