A grant of 1.1 million Euro assigned in 2002 by the European Commission through the EUMEDIS (EuroMediterranean Information Society) to the European Genetics Foundation stimulated the development not only of a Euro-Mediterranean network for medical genetics, but also of a program of distance learning launched in May 2005. These ESGM courses have been offered for the last five years to physicians and researchers who are unable to travel to the main training center.

While a course is taking place at the EuroMediterranean University Centre of Ronzano, the same is webcasted live to the Remote Training Centers located in hospitals, clinics, Universities, research institutes all over Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Middle East.

ESGM courses can be followed live and discussion sessions and workshops are organized by local RTC faculty.
In order to maximize interactive learning during these sessions, student questions are Skyped to the main training center and the answers are discussed and diffused by webcasting.

The numbers of students who attend these Hybrid Courses and their professional profiles is the best proof of the success of the initiative. As an example the ESGM Online Course on “Integration of Cytogenetics, Arrays and Sequencing in Biomedical and Clinical Research” saw the participation of 46 resident students (from 16 different countries) and 16 faculty, but at the same time there were 59 students in 3 Remote Training Centers (38 in Istanbul, 15 in Salamanca and 6 in Malta).

A further example of the success of the ESGM Online Courses is represented by one of the last courses in Medical Genetics directed by Victor A. McKusick. This course  was attended by 104 students from 28 countries but was followed at the same time via Internet by 158 students from the 11 Remote Training Centres.

Please contact the person responsible (the e-mail address is indicated in the registration session in every course) if you  want more info about the procedure to become an RTC and the relative costs.