MedSIS 3C: Frequently Asked Questions

MedSIS 3C is an Internet based health science education management system for students and trainees enrolled or enrolling for training through the Faculty of Health Sciences.

MedSIS 3C is Mac compatible with Firefox. Please go to: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox to download.
Kindly do not use other types of browsers (Opera, Safari, MS Internet Explorer, etc.).

MedSIS 3C is an online application for use by students, teachers, and administrative staff associated with the program directly or indirectly. Each user's access is determined and maintained centrally by Faculty of Health Sciences. Please contact the MedSIS 3C Help Desk at medsis@mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140 x 22398 if you have questions about your account.

MedSIS 3C, an Internet service, is offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences.

As an online application, MedSIS 3C can be accessed around the globe; however, MedSIS 3C service is restricted to legitimate users as identified by Faculty of Health Sciences. Click here if you are a legitimate user who is having difficulty logging on to MedSIS 3C.

The Faculty of Health Sciences owns the copyright to all text, graphics, and multimedia content in the MedSIS 3C pages of this World Wide Web site. No material may be reproduced on any medium or in any location, without the express written permission. Please direct all enquiries to the MedSIS 3C Help Desk at medsis@mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140 x 22398.

Unless otherwise indicated, all trademarks found in the MedSIS 3C pages are trademarks of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Incorporated. MasterCard is a trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. Microsoft Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, Internet Explorer are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the USA and other countries.

The Faculty of Health Sciences will make every reasonable effort to provide uninterrupted MedSIS 3C service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year - but cannot guarantee that MedSIS 3C service will be available at all times. In most cases, if a MedSIS 3C service function is unavailable, users will receive on-screen notification of the temporary unavailability of the service.

If you have problems getting connected to MedSIS 3C, please contact the MedSIS 3C Help Desk at medsis@mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140 x 22398 as an alternative.

Security is critical to your use of MedSIS 3C. Interestingly, security is a shared responsibility. Here is a breakdown of these responsibilities.

You are responsible for the following:

• Protecting your access information
• Login
• MedSIS 3C password
• Knowing your browser - gain a basic understanding of how the security features in your browser function
• Checking your secure site identifiers (padlocks, keys, etc.) each time you access a secure site to ensure all the security features are working for you
• Logging off properly

Internet service provider

You choose who to use as your access provider to the Internet. Care should be exercised in selecting a service provider with integrity and a good, solid reputation. In other words, know who you are trusting.

Taking precautions to ensure the security features available within your browser are properly employed is the surest way to have confidence in using the Internet for financial and other confidential transactions.

Faculty of Health Sciences

The Faculty of Health Sciences is wholly responsible for protection of customer's personal and financial information within the server that houses the MedSIS 3C service. The server is owned, operated and maintained by the Faculty of Health Sciences; it is protected behind a high-security firewall. The Faculty of Health Sciences systems ensures that only encrypted transmissions (including account/personal information) are allowed to communicate transaction requests within MedSIS 3C. The Faculty of Health Sciences does NOT warrant the security of Email.

No. Until such time as the Faculty of Health Sciences is satisfied with the security of Internet email, it will not provide confidential information such as logins and passwords over email. Similarly, MedSIS 3C users are expressly discouraged from sending confidential or personal information via Internet email messages; MedSIS 3C users who choose to send Internet email messages that contain personal or confidential information to the Faculty of Health Sciences do so entirely at their own risk. However, general product or service questions and inquiries are always welcome.

The frequently asked questions below will help answer some of the questions you might have about the security features available within your browser. For more information, please refer to your browser's 'Help' files.

• What is a browser?
• What is the browser's cache?
• How do I know I'm at a secure site?
• What is encryption?
• What is an SSL (Secure Socket Layer)?

What is a browser?

A browser is the software on your computer that allows you to view information from the Internet. Information is written in a coded language, 'HTTP' (HyperText Transfer Protocol), which your browser receives and translates into the images and text on your computer's monitor so you can see it and read it. There are many different browser software packages available; the two most common are Mozilla's Firefox® and Microsoft Internet Explorer^®.

What is the browser's cache?

Your browser requires time to translate the information from the Internet to display it as text and images on your computer's monitor. To reduce this time requirement, your browser is equipped with a 'cache'. The cache allows your browser to store the text and images of sites you have visited in a 'cache memory'. The next time you visit the same site, your browser will check to see if it has a stored copy of the page in its cache. If it finds one, your browser will display the stored copy because it can load it much faster.

The benefit of using cached pages is the speed with which previously visited pages are displayed on your computer.

Some disadvantages of using cached pages are:

• the information may not be current depending on how long ago you visited the page
• pages may be stored in your computer's cache that you don't want anyone else to see

You can set your browser's cache settings so pages are stored based on your requirements. Your browser can be set to treat secure pages differently from insecure pages; for more information about your browser's cache and how to select and set the cache settings, please see the 'Help' file within your browser.

To maintain optimal security on your computer for your financial information, the Faculty of Health Sciences recommends that you clear your cache each time you complete a MedSIS 3C session.

How do I know I'm at a secure site?

Depending on what browser you are using, Mozilla Firefox® or Microsoft Internet Explorer®, you will see evidence of whether you are at a secure or unsecured site.

Lock displayed on screen:
Microsoft Internet Explorer displays a padlock at the bottom of your screen just right of center if you are on a secure site; if you are at an unsecured site, nothing is displayed.

Warning messages
Your browser provides a warning message system that will tell you when you are moving to or from a secure page. We have found that a lot of Internet users find these messages irritating and tend to turn them off. We strongly recommend that you do not turn the messages off. They are there to assist you with understanding and maintaining security within your browser.

Site certificates
Site certificates are issued to the secure site owners by a Certificate Authority. VeriSign® is the Certificate Authority that issues the Faculty of Health Sciences site certificate (The certificate may also be labeled RSA Data Security, Inc.). The Faculty of Health Sciences provides detailed corporate information to VeriSign to prove their authenticity, then VeriSign® issues a site certificate to the Faculty of Health Sciences. By clicking on the padlock in Microsoft Internet Explorer, information about the site certificate is displayed. This allows you to verify that you have connected to the site to which you intended to connect.

What is encryption?

Encryption is the process of scrambling information using a secret code so it cannot be understood by anyone other than those who have the key for decoding the information. For encryption to work, both the sender and receiver must be able to encode and decode the information. The site certificate provides the private key for encoding the information.

What is SSL (Secure Socket Layers)?

Information on the World Wide Web is transmitted using 'HTTP' (HyperText Transfer Protocol). Secure data on the Web is distributed by using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This is a layer of security over top of HTTP information. (The location addresses for secure sites use 'https:' at the beginning instead of the regular insecure 'http:'). Your browser would have been shipped to you with SSL enabled. Please see your browser's 'Help' files for more information about SSL.

When you have completed your MedSIS 3C session, click the 'Logout' icon at the top right hand corner of the page. This will expire your session and prevent further access to your account until you log into MedSIS 3C again.

Shutting down your browser is another way to ensure that your information cannot be viewed by anyone else who shares your computer.