Against this backdrop of plentiful traditional educational opportunities, we are seeing explosive growth in alternative delivery vehicles, including audiotapes, videotapes, CD-ROMs and, most recently, World Wide Web offerings. Highfidelity sound, animation, graphics, and simulations in medical multimedia programs often captivate even the most sleep-deprived clinician. However, like printed publications, medical multimedia content varies in bias, usability, educational value, and cost. A good tutor can totally customize the learning experience to take advantage of your personal learning style. Each of us has some unique aspect in the way we learn, but few of us can afford to have a human tutor available to tailor our educational materials on demand.
All teaching is based on certain assumptions regarding the learner.
For example, when I was given the opportunity to write for this journal, my first question concerned reader characteristics. I found that the average Postgraduate Medicine reader is a busy primary care physician who is inundated with journals and other medical material. Thus, I try to fashion this column to succinctly answer the practical questions physicians may have concerning use of technology in medicine. One of the potential advantages of computer-based CME programs is that they can be individualized so content depth, scope, and presentation rate match your specific needs. Unfortunately, at present, few computer-based CME titles take full advantage of the media's ability to customize the learning experience.