Videoteleconferencing for administration of a multisite obstetrics and gynecology core clerkship

Recent changes and trends in health care delivery have required medical sch ools to use multiple sites to obtain adequate patient exposure for their st udents. Decentralization of clinical undergraduate medical education may le ad to a lack of continuity in curricula, evaluation, and feedback. We descr ibe the use of interactive videoteleconferencing as a tool to link and impr ove a multi-site undergraduate core clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryla nd, currently utilizes five geographically separate sites for its L-week co re clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology. The site coordinators, clerkship director, and administrative personnel from the parent institution meet ap proximately 3 weeks after the completion of each core clerkship for live, r eal-time, and interactive broadcast to complete student evaluations, review curricula, and discuss problems with current students and other pertinent educational issues. Videoteleconferencing provides a mechanism to ensure co nsistency in curriculum and student evaluations and provides administrative support to distant sites. Furthermore, it enables site coordinators to kee p the clerkship director abreast of students and clerkship issues.