The Global Health Network Supercourse: epidemiology, the internet, and global health.

Background: The Global Health Network (GHNet) Supercourse is a collaboration project involving more than 750 professionals from 81 different countries aimed at developing a "library of lectures" related to epidemiology, the Internet, and global health. The goal of the Supercourse is to provide instructors of medical and other health related students with the best available information.

Results: The Supercourse is based on several concepts, including information-sharing, quality control, and global access. Currently, 80 lectures are available from scientists around the world. Each lecture serves as a "locator" with hypertext links to other pertinent information on the Internet. The British Medical Journal has put two textbooks on their Web site that interlace each lecture with links to specific pages or paragraphs of the books. All lectures are reviewed for quality by the global faculty and evaluated annually. Hence, lectures remain current, relevant, and of high quality. Mirrored sites of the Supercourse have been established to increase the accessibility of the Supercourse in areas of the world that may have limited connectivity.

Summary: While instructors are available worldwide, many do not have access to the latest health and prevention information, and many instructors would benefit from having the assistance of leading experts. Using an Internet-based lecture-shaping model for transnational training in public health, some of these teachers may be better equipped to train medical and health-related professionals.