Originally published in MOREnetworking Vol. 2 No. 4, Sept. 2005
Once a year, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences regional coordinators and administrators across the country convene at the Kirksville, Missouri, campus for a conference to discuss assessment, clinical curriculum and medical education.
In the past, any additional communication would have been limited to phone calls or e-mail. But now those same coordinators, spread across the country, are able to meet once a month, with most of the same benefits of in-person meetings, thanks to MOREnet e-Conferencing powered by Centra.
Tammy Kriegshauser, Assistant Dean for Clinical Educational Affairs, believes that e-Conferencing with Centra offers an advantage over phone or e-mail interactions. “The difference is the live, interactive feedback, almost as if attendees are in a room together on campus,” she said.
e-Conferencing also helps to structure a meeting, Kriegshauser said. “We start by building an agenda, which helps us conduct a proactive, rather than reactive meeting. Once the agenda is complete, though, we open the floor to questions so the coordinators and administrators can engage in free-flowing discussion. It’s an excellent tool.”
The regional deans have also started using e-Conferencing for quarterly meetings, Kriegshauser said.
“I would encourage others to try e-Conferencing,” Kriegshauser said. “Those who initially resisted the idea have come to realize that it’s actually very easy.”
For more information on MOREnet’s e-Conferencing service powered by Centra, visit www.more.net/econferencing.
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