This three-year project will: a) establish connections to the Internet and the UIC Academic Computer Center for rural physicians preceptors in the UI College of Medicine Rural Medicine Education (RMED) program; b) train RMED preceptors, students, and public health professionals to access and search an assortment of National Library of Medicine databases; and c) train preceptors, students and public health professionals to locate websites related to their work. The project will build an RMED/Public Health Network of physicians, medical students, and local health departments through a project website. The project brings together information systems from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago and Rockford, Library of the Health Sciences (LHS), and universities in downstate Illinois. The broad, long-term objectives are: 1) At least a) 13 RMED preceptors, b) 60 RMED students, and c) 80 public, health professionals in 21 rural local health departments (LHD?s) will develop their skills to access NLM databases and apply the information to their work; 2) Enlist at least eight faculty of UICOM, Illinois State University, and Western Illinois University to implement and disseminate the project, and to develop an on-line course, Rural Informatics for the Health Professions, to focus on population-based medicine and public health; 3) Evaluate the project and disseminate findings on websites, at local, regional or national meetings, through professional journals, local newspapers, and to state of Illinois administrators. We will report project results and strategies for collaboration among medical educators, health sciences librarians, rural physicians, social scientists, and public health professionals. Over the long term, this project will enhance the ability of rural physicians and health department officials to provide quality medical care to rural populations in Illinois, and will create an awareness among rural health professionals of the benefits that can be derived by using electronic resources.
