IN THIS INTERNET AGE, ongoing medical education can be just a mouse-click away. A case in point is the UCLA Pituitary iCase of the Month. Launched by neurosurgeon Marvin Bergsneider, M.D., and colleagues, iCase is an educational web feature with roots in UCLA’s monthly Pituitary Tumor Board.
The monthly meetings draw upward of 40 multidisciplinary participants who hear a variety of case presentations, and it is cited as among the most thorough discussions of clinical issues at UCLA. Last year, “several of the participants approached me to suggest that we try to invite community physicians to the conference,” says Dr. Bergsneider.
While the idea of expanding the conference to include physicians outside of UCLA had great appeal, asking community colleagues to brave West L.A. traffic was a down-side. “This led us to think about recording the conferences and posting the presentations on our website,” Dr. Bergsneider says. After purchasing the necessary equipment and software, the project began.
The case that is posted online each month is selected from among the three-to-four cases that are discussed at each tumor board. While the iCase website is tailored for the iPad, the cases, which include high-resolution MRI and pathology images, can also be viewed on any smartphone or computer.
“This really is an example, we feel, of how post-graduate medical education is evolving to provide media-rich content,” Dr. Bergsneider says. “Innovations like this can make free, extremely high-quality educational content available to both the local and global medical communities.”
To access UCLA Pituitary iCase of the Month, click on the link at: www.pituitary.ucla.edu
