web-based medical education: the experience in iran

background: world wide web is growing more accessible with lower costs throughout the world and in iran this makes web – based education a convenient option for delivering at least part of education in medicine. purpose: to establish the foundation of web-based medical education methods: three major fields for developing educational modules were identified: ume, faculty development, and cme programs. in each field one or more modules were designed and conducted. results: the student had the main role in the classes they found the modules satisfactory and session as long as 8 hours were completed without any students’ complaint. cme course received the same warm welcome from the participants. conclusion: given the rapid expansion of computer and web access in iran and the potentials of computer assisted or web-based learning, it seems reasonable at this time to invest on e-learning in terms of physical, technical and human resources.