Computer aids come to Med School

Professors may become obsolete at the Medical School if current development of computer teaching aids comes to fruition. Although white-coated lecturers may never actually get the heave-ho, Med School students can currently study 32 subjects through a series of computer programs, and more are being developed. Developed at several different pharmaceutical companies and universities, including the University, the programs supplement and serve as teaching aids for Medical School courses. Some University-designed programs include lecture notes for University courses. Others include sections for study summaries and detailed diagrams. Program designers do not forsee these programs replacing lectures, but many facilitators found students to be extremely receptive and were pleased with results. A very successful program, called Gross Anatomy Review Program, or GARP, was created by two medical students, David Nathan and Anne Moch. The project was facilitated by Associate Education Dean Michael Cancro. "The program was most used as a general study aid and for exam preparation and review," Cancro said. "Most found that the flexibility was really the key aspect of it." The program, according to Cancro, was used by between 60 and 90 percent of all first year medical students. Most educational computer programs have not had this success rate because of the different topics. "Many have tried to make these [programs] more than self-directed review sessions," Cancro said. "It is more than an electric page turner." Not all program designers were as satisfied with students' responses. "It is encouraged [for all students]," said John Miller, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine. "But I don't think I got any takers." Many computers in different departments at the Med School have these programs on-line, but the majority of the programs are on computers in the Biomedical Library. Funding for research at the University has been supplied by University sources, the government and drug companies. Although the computers will help professors teach their classes, most professors said that teaching will remain a priority. Teaching is important at the University, but no more than either research or service, according to David Elder, professor in pathology at the Med School. "There are three parts of the stool of responsibility, including teaching, research and service," he said. "Without the three legs, the stool falls down." "The University is vitally interested in teaching, but equally interested in research," Elder said. Not all University professors agree that the University prioritizes in this way. "Teaching is a low priority [at the University], unfortunately," said Harvey Kliman, a former assistant professor of pathology and now an assistant professor at Yale University. "Computers in education will not progress unless faculty members are rewarded for spending time to develop programs used for education." Kliman's pathology project is currently on hold, since his departure from the University to Yale late this summer. The information contained on his program is now outdated, and there are no faculty members available to update it. "[Kliman's program] is not used now because it is not updated," Shar said. "It is on hold until we identify someone to work on it, but it will be revived . . . within the next 12 to 18 months," Elder said. There is a problem finding someone to replace Kliman in his research responsibilities. University faculty members are already involved with other projects, and it is difficult to find new employees. "What slows us down is that everyone [previously] involved is 125 percent committed with other things," Elder said. "We're trying to recruit an individual whose responsibilities might include computer-aided teaching."

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