THE INTERACTIVE PATIENT - A MULTIMEDIA INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL-TOOL ON THE WORLD-WIDE-WEB

To develop a physician-friendly continuing medical education tool for use on the World Wide Web, and to improve physicians' clinical and his tory taking skills, developers at Marshall University designed a multi media interactive patient encounter for a Web server. Any physician wi th access to the Intenet can use this program to take a history, perfo rm a physical examination, order laboratory and radiologic studies, an d submit a diagnosis and treatment plan. The system evaluates the user 's performance electronically and delivers CME credits by mail. The In teractive Patient has been embraced by the medical community, with man y institutions providing links to this new tool and hundreds of physic ians using it. The enthusiasm of most users demonstrates that combinin g education with fun enhances the learning experience.