Design and Implementation of a Web directory for Medical Education (WDME): a Tool to Facilitate Research in Medical Education

Introduction: Access to the medical education resources on the web is one of current challenges for researchers and medical science educators. The purpose of current project was to design and implement a comprehensive and specific subject/web directory of medical education. Methods: First, the categories to be incorporated in the directory were defined through reviewing related directories and obtaining medical education experts’ opinions in a focus group. Then, number of sources such as (Meta) search engines, subject directories, databases and library catalogs searched/browsed for selecting and collecting high quality resources. Finally, the website was designed and the resources were entered into the directory. Results: The main categories incorporating WDME resources are: Journals, Organizations, Best Evidence in Medical Education, and Textbooks. Each category is divided into sub-categories and related resources of each category are described shortly within it. The resources in this directory could be accessed both by browsing and keyword searching. WDME is accessible on http://medirectory.org. Conclusions: The innovative Web Directory for Medical Education (WDME) presented in this paper, is more comprehensive than other existing directories, and expandable through user suggestions. It may help medical educators to find their desirable resources more quickly and easily hence have more informed decisions in education. The full text of this paper has been already published in English in Med. Arh.2012. Vol 66 (issue 2), pp 133-136, and by kind permission from that journal, its full text in Persian is now published in Iranian Journal of Medical Education.