An Internet-Based Program to Teach Osteoporosis1

This paper describes the implementation of a nontraditional internet-based osteoporosis lecture module and evaluates pharmacy students ' and pharmacists ' attitudes about using the program and the internet. The Internet-Based Osteoporosis Program (IBOP) consists of two programs, one for practicing pharmacists and one for pharmacy students enrolled in the Disease Management I Course. Upon completion of the internet lecture, pharmacy students and pharmacists were asked to complete a 14-item survey consisting of statements ascertaining the usefulness of the IBOP and items concerning attitudes about the use of the internet to enhance learning by using a five-point Likert-type scale (ranging from 1 = "strongly disagree " to 5 = "strongly agree"). Pharmacy students (n=99), more so than pharmacists (n=135), preferred "live " lectures rather than internet lectures (P<0.001). Pharmacists, compared to pharmacy students, believed that receiving lectures via the internet were more convenient and also believed that the internet was more convenient than attending "live " lectures to obtain pharmacy-related instruction (P<0.001). Non-traditional students (e.g., practicing pharmacists) and those students who may not be able to attend lectures because of travel and time restrictions prefer internet-based lectures more than traditional pharmacy students