O ensino da história da medicina através de ferramentas virtuais simples

Abstract

Introduction /Objectives: History of Medicine is neglected in most Medical Courses in Brazil. The reason for this is the false idea that this subject is devoided of practical importance. In truth, the study of History of Medicine has the function to assist in the understanding of Medicine itself, its evolution and trends. A good method correct such a discrepancy in Medical Curricula is through Online Education and Distance Learning techniques. Such strategies effectively meet large numbers of students in an inexpensive way. This project comprised the creation of a collection of video lectures on the History Medicine and History of Medicine in Brazil, presented as an online course that could be accessed by any student through Youtube®. Text-video with audio narration covers prehistory to present day, in chronological order and address the historical contextualization of Medical advances as well as biographical data on influential personalities of each era. Using a dynamic and didactic approach, each video lesson aims at awaken student´s interest to the universe of Medicine through time and to educate students on the basis and personalities involved in the Medicine we practice today. Material and Method: The historical and medical information approached in each video-lesson were reached after in-depth study of reference material including books, scientific papers and academic works. Learning objectives were reviewed to ensure at the same time a focused, complete learning unit and a complementary set of informations, aiming at with the intention the creation of a rich and relevant material. Photos, figures and videos were selected from books and websites of the Wellcome Library (England) and National Library of Medicine, USA. Sound tracks, quotes and animations were customized to each video-lesson. Basic information on History of Medicine were obtained from classical references in the field as Garrison´s History of Medicine, Roy Porter´s books and essas and Otto Bettmann’s Pictorial History of Medicine. For the preparation of video-lessons in History of Medicine, we used MovieMaker® software, 2012 version (build 16.4.3528.0331) in a Windows 7 operating systems. Each video-lesson is no longer than 10 minutes. Preparation of video-lessons in History of Medicine could be divided into four phases: (1) Detailed study and formulation of the video-lesson script, (2) Script planning, in order to arrange data, didactic and artistic tools to be employed, (3) Selection of material and standardization of the video-lessons set, (4) Creation of video-lessons and collection review. Results: A collection comprising twenty video-lessons addressing History of Medicine was created. Titles included “The importance of Medical History”, “Prehistorical Medicine”, “Medicine During Antiquity (Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India)”, “Medicine During Western Middle Age”, “Eastern Middle Age Medicine”, “Renaissance Medicine”, “16th and 17th Century Medicine”, “18th and 19th Century Medicine”, “20th Century Medicine”, “Brazilian Indigenous Medicine”, “Brazilian Colonial Medicine”, Medicine During Brazilian Empire and Republic” and “History of Medicine in the State of Pernambuco – Brazil”. Conclusion: Simple virtual tools systematically applied to an organized core of knowledge have been used to create an attractive didactic tool useful to teach and learn History of Medicine. Understanding the process used to create this Virtual Collection of Video-Lessons in History of Medicine is of interest to other authors and of potential use in other fields of knowledge.