Welcome to CORTEX

Welcome to the CORTEX site. This site aims to promote and support the development and adoption of eLearning within the Cardiff University School of Medicine. The site is currently a work in progress but will eventually provide access to a range of tutorials, case studies and policy documents to help educators adopt technology into their teaching practices. Read more...

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Actor Release Form

During the development of educational resources it is common, particularly within medical education, to employ actors - this includes patients who have agreed to a recording outside of the course of their treatment.

Prior to starting any recordings, actors should be provided with full details of what the recording will entail and how the recording will be used. The “actor” should then be asked to sign the consent portion of the Actor Release form to confirm they are happy to partake in the recording.

Where an actor is used within a recording, the actor, by law, retains copyright for their performance. To ensure Cardiff University retains the right to use the materials we produce, it is vital that all actors are asked to sign a Actor Release Form for their part in the recording.

The Actor Release Form is designed to record evidence that the media you are using has been granted for such use.

Before completing the form, please ensure you are familiar with the MEDIC e-learning Consent Policy.

Friday, 4 May 2012

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Obesity and overweight are not a particularly recent problem despite what is portrayed in the media. They are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980 and nearly 43 million children under the age of 5 were overweight in 2010. Sadly, they are preventable diseases. Anorexia Nervosa requires a brief mention within this module as it also accounts for abnormal BMIs but will be covered elsewhere within your medical degree course.

The aim of this module is to facilitate learning regarding the topic of Body Mass Index (BMI). 

Clinical Skills
  • Dr Eleanor Chiu
  • Miss Alyssia Broomfield
  • Miss Iona Taylor 

Hand Hygiene


Health Care Associated Infection (HCAI) is a critical patient safety issue. At any one time up to eight per cent of inpatients in England and Wales have HCAI (Smythe et al 2008).

Statistics for England and Wales show that 5,109 deaths involved MRSA and 13,189 involved Clostridium difficile during the period 2001-2006 in patient care establishments (NPSA, 2008).

Evidence shows that improving Hand Hygiene contributes significantly to the reduction of HCAI.

The aim of this module is to facilitate learning regarding the purpose and procedure of Hand Hygiene.

Clinical Skills
  • Sian Williams (Clinical Skills Tutor/Manager)
Launch this module

Standard Precautions / Personal Protective Equipment

‘Standard precautions [formerly called universal precautions] are meant to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from both recognized and unrecognized sources. They are the basic level of infection control precautions which are used in the care of all patients’ (WHO 2007).

The aim of this module is to facilitate learning regarding the reasons for standard precautions and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare.

Clinical Skills
  • Carole Loveridge (Lecturer in Women’s Health)
Launch this module

Rinne's & Weber's Tests

In clinical practice it is common to see patients complaining of hearing loss. It is useful to be able to have a simple test that can distinguish where the site of the cause of the hearing loss is. This can help guide the need for further examination, investigation and management.
The aim of this tutorial is to understand the purpose of Rinne’s test and Weber’s test and to understand when you would use it

Clinical Skills
  • Dr Alan Stone (General Practitioner and Senior Clinical Tutor)
Launch this module

Copyright Consent Registration Form

Image of Copyright Consent Form front pageModern teaching practices often make extensive use of creative media to enhance the information offered to students. However, such creative media (e.g. photographs, images, videos, audio, diagrams etc.) can be expensive to produce and it can be very tempting to download something from the Internet, or copy something from a book, to avoid the need to create media from scratch.
When obtaining material (for example; images, video, articles of text), the first step is to determine whether permission has been granted for use within education. If there is no clear indication then appropriate steps should be taken to obtain permission from wherever the material has been sourced. The Copyright Consent Registration Form is designed to record evidence that the media you are using has been granted for such use.  

Before completing the form, please ensure you are familiar with the MEDIC e-learning Copyright Guidelines.