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Welcome   By: Dr Peter Tylee

Welcome to WNR304 Primary Health Care on the web!

The materials presented for this subject are resources which can be used to both gain some useful knowledge about primary health care (PHC), a much used but frequently poorly understood "term", and to directly support your problem based practice in the professional experience placement (PEP) component of this subject. In as much as they replace the lecture content of this subject, in its traditional form, they could be regarded as non-compulsory. However, you are strongly encouraged to complete all of the modules provided on the web. Indeed, they are provided to help you and you would otherwise certainly need to do a great deal more work independently to equal their value in preparing yourself for satisfactory completion of the subject.

Each module will cover one or more topics of relevance to PHC practice. Remember sound practice is always based on sound theory. Given the diversity within PHC itself, it is difficult to develop a single explicit theme for the materials overall. Since only a short time is available for the subject, a series of topics has been developed which may appear a somewhat disparate collection. Nevertheless, all topics are of direct relevance to PHC and a strong nursing practice focus is maintained.

The module materials are presented in an interactive format. The interactivity is of two types. First, there are active elements programmed within the web pages where you can enter requested information and then click on a button for immediate feedback. This is entirely private to you and all of the processing is completed on the computer you are using. The second type involves sending feedback to me. You will click on a button to submit your work, a warning will be displayed asking if you want to send the information, to which you say "OK" and then shortly after you will receive confirmation that your material was delivered successfully.

The second type above is very important. It will enable me to follow each student’s progress individually. I will be able to check your understanding of the module materials and provide you with individual feedback (by email, so remember to check your mail regularly). Contrast this with a lecture for a moment. Typically, no matter how the lecturer tries to include everyone, only a minority of students actually stays active in lectures. Some don’t bother to even take notes, many never answer questions, when some don’t understand what is presented they just keep quiet - come to think of it, some don’t even show up! We needn’t go into any justification for this, suffice it to say that an abundance of research has demonstrated that traditional lectures are disappointingly ineffective.

But wait, there’s more! Yes, more feedback or interactivity. This feedback is not directly related to any particular module, rather the whole subject. Again there are two types. The first is a page of notices on this subject’s web site. If I need to make some information generally available it will be placed on this page and you will be able to check when it is updated each time you log onto the site. Note that a notice placed here will be deemed as provided to all students. The second type is an ongoing discussion list. This will be something like a tutorial and message centre rolled into one. It will enable everyone in the subject to post messages on topics (sometimes called threads) and to respond to any and all other posts to the list. This forum can be used for whole subject matters or can be a "place" where individual teams may develop their own thread to keep in touch (remembering that it will be public to everyone in the subject).

Remember that you can see me personally in my office in the consultation times listed on my door or you may be able to make an appointment for another time. You can also send me email using one of the email links provided within the modules or by entering one of the following into your email software.

From inside the campus: (deleted)

From anywhere at all: (deleted)

I can be found in room (deleted) and my telephone number is (deleted) or just the last four digits if calling from on campus.

The PEP in this subject will be very demanding and you will have to work hard to be successful. The compulsory tutorials are designed to be supportive of your PEP. The assignments should be challenging but are really quite straight-forward. The web-based approach has the potential to significantly enhance your learning experience. In the end of course, what you get out of PHC will directly relate to what you choose to put into it. I invite you to invest all you can and I sincerely extend my best wishes to you all. I hope you grow and enjoy the experience.

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