Medical continuing education: reform of teaching methods about high altitude disease in China

The purpose of high altitude continuing medical education is to adapt knowledge and skills for practical application on the plateau. Most trainees have experience with academic education and grassroots work experience on the plateau, so they want knowledge about new advances in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of high altitude disease. As such, traditional classroom teaching methods are not useful to them. Training objects, content, and methods should attempt to conduct a variety of teaching practices. Through continuing medical education on high altitude disease, the authors seek to change the traditional teaching model away from a single classroom and traditional written examinations to expand trainees' abilities. These innovative methods of training can improve both the quality of teaching and students' abilities to prevent and treat acute mountain sickness, high altitude pulmonary edema, high altitude cerebral edema, and chronic mountain sickness to increase the quality of high altitude medical care.