International concurrent course delivery: Bringing pragmatic research to the classroom

Tele-health, or health care at a distance, is increasingly becoming a common form of health service delivery yet few academics are researching this field, and fewer are teaching about it. This presentation discusses the development and delivery of a highly innovative online course delivered internationally and concurrently. Through a review of early applications of the technology in the UK and Canada, the course highlights societal, economic and technological drivers and the benefits, opportunities, challenges and barriers to this type of service delivery. It allows students from Western University, Canada to engage with academics and students from the University of Sheffield, UK as the content is provided by academic leaders in the field from both Universities allowing students to gain an international, comparative perspective. Students on the course are exposed not only to the new technology, but to the best academics undertaking cutting-edge research to develop and mainstream them