Problems encountered with a pilot online attendance record and feedback scheme for medical students.

The article focuses on the problem encountered with a pilot online attendance record and feedback scheme for medical students. In one clinical school in Great Britain, students must pass the peri-operative medicine attachment before taking the final examinations. They are assessed according to their attendance and performance in a short examination. Considering the limitations of sign-up sheets, the researchers developed an online system to record attendance during the attachment inorder to lessen the burden of medical students in producing signatures. However, many students felt uncomfortable using the system in the operating theatre because at the end of the pilot period, the hospital authorities developed a policy prohibiting access to the internet from theatre computers.