Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OG1-3-4
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
yes
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Other
Presenter Other
Research Associate
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
no
Title
Mixed Messages: A Visual and Textual Analysis of a Rural Medicine Website
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
The mission of Distributed Learning and Rural Initiatives (DLRI), University of Calgary, is to facilitate relationships between "medical educators, healthcare professionals in training, and individuals and families living in rural communities." The current study evaluates the DLRI website to determine whether it accurately reflects our mission and commitment to rural medicine.
Methods
We examined all public-facing webpages that comprise the DLRI website. Text were analyzed for both purpose and content. We also conducted a visual analysis of images on the webpages using techniques derived from art criticism. Specific attention was paid to the subject and context of the images as well as any notable presences or absences.
Results
Thirty-two webpages were analyzed. DLRI's mission was only described explicitly on one webpage. Text on many webpages were procedural with substantial use of jargon. Student pages, in particular, were very directive and often used negative phrases. The visual analysis found that of 23 individual images, 14 of them were rural landscapes with no people. The majority of images containing people showed students, often depicted socializing. Little ethnic diversity was seen in images
Conclusion
Textual analysis of the DLRI webpages indicates a mixture of welcoming and bureaucratic discourse. The visual analysis of the images documented a focus on isolated, de-populated rural landscapes. In addition, there was a notable absence of images of patients, community members, or individuals from diverse backgrounds. The analysis informed recommendations to align the text and images with the DLRI mission and the social accountability mandate of the University of Calgary.
Keyword 1
visual analysis
Keyword 2
rural medicine
Keyword 3
website analysis
Level of Training
General
Abstract Themes
Distributed Medical Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Rebecca Malhi
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
