Relating media with staff development in medical education

Medical education nowadays experiences an increasing gap between the potential didactic value of educational technology and the practical implementation thereof. One of the important obstacles is the tendency to separate media and media agencies from staff development. A new conceptual model was designed for staff development in medical education, which incorporates media as one of the fundamental components. In application of this model the Bureau for Medical and Dental Education at the University of Stellenbosch medical school directs its media activities and services to the improvement of instruction and learning. For example instead of only offering technical audio-visual production services, medical teachers are also taught how to use different media effectively in teaching and learning. In this way media are directly related to staff development.