CAMEO-B : a CD-ROM Package for Australian Medical Students

Lara Strassburger*
University of Queensland
l.strassburger@mailbox.uq.edu.au

A comprehensive CD-ROM package for medical students is currently underdevelopment at the University of Queensland. Educational MultimediaServices (EMS) of the Teaching and Educational Development Institute isresponsible for the program design & development and the Department ofSocial and Preventative Medicine with the National Breast Cancer Centre isresponsible for curriculum design and content. Titled _Curriculum forAustralian Medical Education in Oncology - Breast_ or _CAMEO-B_, thepackage will enable medical students to enter the work force with anunderstanding of pertinent issues that relate to the diagnosis andmanagement of breast cancer. The educational areas to be covered are:
- basic and clinical sciences;- communication and clinical skills;- patient in context; and- personal and professional development.

It is designed to be a self-directed package and is problem-based innature. The student will take on the role of a generic medical practitionerwho must go through the appropriate processes of history-taking,examination, initial assessment, referrals, management and follow-up withthree different patients, all of whom are at different levels of diseasestate. Through a series of question and answer sessions with the patient,the student will be able to assess their own knowledge and refer toappropriate resources, as necessary, to answer the questions asked. Theresources available will vary in nature, and will include a range of text,graphics and video - all of which will be searchable by keyword and title.

The interactive style of this package will make it a very effective anduseful learning tool, and additionally the resources provided within thepackage will remain useful to the students during their medical careers.
The focus of CAMEO-B is on the learner and how best they can fulfill thecourse objectives. We believe that the style in which this package will bedelivered will maximise the learning potential, as:
1.the user will be drawn into the realistic environment; and2.the entire program will run from the perspective of the user, and all choices and responses that he or she makes throughout the program will effect the outcomes for the patient - all with the help of the complex engines that make up the program.

This project requires a significant amount of input from both EMS and themedical content experts. We believe this work is extremely valuable formedical students because they will be provided with a self-directed,self-paced highly engaging package from which to learn critical conceptsand methodologies. Ideally this CD-ROM will be accompanied by a full-lengthvideo and print materials as well, which will again enhance the learningopportunities available to those students using the product. CAMEO-B, weexpect, will be adopted as part of the medical course at a number ofAustralian universities, and Flinders University in South Australia will betrialling the package in Semester 1, 1998, following use by a small groupof University of Queensland medical students late this year.