Telematics Applications for High Quality Educational and Clinical Support to Practicing Professionals and Medical Students
Gerhard Franz Walter, Alexandru Constantin Stan, U. von Jan, Albert J. Porth, Herbert K. Matthies, Alexander Ammann · 1999
This paper begins with a discussion of using multimedia technologies for education and teleconsultation using PC-based video-conferencing equipment. An overview is provided of the G7 (i.e., an informal forum of the seven major industrialized democracies) Healthcare Applications Project (GHAP), which aims at improving the quality and cost efficiency of health care delivery through telematics (remote access) tools. The paper then describes 2 of the 10 GHAP sub-projects, the Medical Image Reference Center (MEDIREC) and the International Online Academy (IOA). The objectives of MEDIREC are to support clinical activities, contribute to medical education and training, and facilitate medical research. Proposed reference centers would include clinical and pathological images (still and moving) and typical, rare, and difficult to diagnose cases. IOA provides the means for high quality, structured, and certified education and continuing education. (Contains 13 references.) (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Telematics Applications for High Quality Educational and Clinical Support to Practicing Professionals and Medical Students 1/4D 00 H. K. Matthies Medical Computing Center, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany 4.1 Tel: +49 511 532 6545, Fax: +49 511 532 2317, E-mail: [email protected] G. F. Walter Institute of Neuropathology, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany Tel: +49 511 532 4548, E-mail: [email protected] A. C. Stan Institute of Neuropathology, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany Tel: +49 511 532 4539, E-mail: [email protected] A. Ammann Quintessence Publishing Co. ltd., Ifenpfad 2-4, D-12107 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 761 80 660, E-mail: [email protected] U. von Jan Medical Computing Center, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany Tel: +49 511 532 2550, Fax: +49 511 532 2317, E-mail: [email protected] A. J. Porth Medical Computing Center, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany Tel: +49 511 532 6549, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The era we are living in is often referred to as the age of The combination of new and rapidly developing interactive multimedia computers and applications with electronic networks will require a restructuring of our traditional approach to strategic planning and organizational structure. World-wide telecommunication networks (using satellites, cable) are now facilitating the global pooling of healthcare information and medical knowledge independent of location. The G7 Healthcare Applications Project aims at improving quality and cost efficiency of healthcare delivery through telematics (remote access) tools. From these ten sub-projects two sub-projects are presented. The development of multimedia information and communication systems demands cooperative working teams of authors, who are able to master several areas of medical knowledge as well as the presentation of these in different multimedia forms. The assemblage of telematics and services offers a base for multimedia applications, for example teleteaching, telelearning, telepublishing, teleconsulting, teleconferencing, telemedicine etc. The expansion of the internet will also lead to the formation of interdisciplinary Global Education Networks. The theory and practice of education are undergoing dramatic changes. Lifelong learning and adaptation of medical practice to new knowledge and new techniques will be even more important in the future. The era we are living in is often referred to as the age of The combination of new and rapidly developing interactive multimedia computers and applications with electronic networks will require a restructuring of our traditional approach to strategic planning and organizational structure. World-wide telecommunication networks (using satellites, cable) are now facilitating the global pooling of healthcare information and medical knowledge independent of location. The G7 Healthcare Applications Project aims at improving quality and cost efficiency of healthcare delivery through telematics (remote access) tools. From these ten sub-projects two sub-projects are presented. The development of multimedia information and communication systems demands cooperative working teams of authors, who are able to master several areas of medical knowledge as well as the presentation of these in different multimedia forms. The assemblage of telematics and services offers a base for multimedia applications, for example teleteaching, telelearning, telepublishing, teleconsulting, teleconferencing, telemedicine etc. The expansion of the internet will also lead to the formation of interdisciplinary Global Education Networks. The theory and practice of education are undergoing dramatic changes. Lifelong learning and adaptation of medical practice to new knowledge and new techniques will be even more important in the future. 1. Using Multimedia Technologies for Education The internet technology is rapidly emerging as the most powerful medium of mass communication. Its WWW (World Wide Web) service has become a very important media for providing medical knowledge. Printed publications are more and more supplemented by electronical methods of publishing. Unfortunately the kinds of knowledge presentation in electronical media are often very similar to the traditional patterns that are used in printed books and scientific journals and are often only supplemented by hyperlinks and multimedia elements. The development of multimedia information and communication systems therefore demands PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY