Intercontinental postmortem studies using interactive television

Abstract

For cultural reasons, medical students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are not offered postmortem studies. In a collaborative project between the medical schools of Aberdeen University and the UAE University the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of telepathology teaching were evaluated. The transmission of postmortem video images at a quality high enough for teaching purposes was achieved at a data transmission speed of 384 kbit/s. Videoconferencing as a method of presentation was viewed by the students as both interesting and useful. All students participating in the telepathology teaching sessions exceeded the minimum acceptable score of 60% in a multiple-choice examination. Although international videoconferencing at 384 kbit/s is expensive, the costs involved in the telepathology project were small in relation to the educational benefits.