Here is an update for you in relation to medical informatics developments at
RCSEd


The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Internet Café and Faculty of
Medical Informatics


The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh http://www.rcsed.ac.uk/ opened
its Surgeons Internet Cafe http://www.rcsed.ac.uk/library/internetcafe.htm
last summer. The development is part of a new Faculty of Medical Informatics
that has been led by Professor A. Maran, President of the College.


The Internet Café will allow surgeons to learn new skills and to become
competent with the management of computers and medical information. The
Internet Café will be the base for regular information technology courses
that are regularly held at the college. The Internet Café may become a
useful "bolt-on" facility to delegates to other types of meetings such as
Educating Consultants. For 1999 there are fourteen courses being taught at
all levels which include topics such as using browsers, e-mail, scanning
images, digital image manipulation, database management, slide design and
HTML authoring. Sir David Carter opened the Internet Café formerly in August
1998. Sir David, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland was impressed with the
foresight of the college for developing the Internet Café. The facility to
send and receive email is one, which has been of the greatest benefit to
surgeons.


The Internet Café is situated in the heart of the College's magnificent
Playfair building. The College Library already has an excellent collection
of surgical
texts, journals, videotapes and compact disks and medical databases,
suitable for the full range of needs of surgeons, from study material for
candidates aspiring to Fellowship to the Continuing Medical Education of
Fellows, Associate Fellows and Diplomates. The Internet Café is therefore a
complimentary resource to these facilities. The courses and facility is open
to doctors and surgeons and the program of courses for the Internet Café is
at http://www.rcsed.ac.uk/Diary/calcours.htm


The Faculty of Medical Informatics will have a major role in the development
of Medical Informatics around the world. The role of the Faculty will be in
extending the range and accessibility of training courses and related
qualifications at or through the college. The faculty will develop the
college's website and develop an electronic version of the SELECT basic
surgical training course. The Faculty also is assisting in the relaunch of
the electronic version of its own paper Journal. The Faculty will also have
research roles into Medical Informatics and Telemedicine services. The
Faculty is to be located within offices within the college with a 2-Megabit
Internet connection. A major role of the faculty will be in the assurance of
the quality of web-based material.


One of the planned major developments is to be a Diploma Course for surgeons
in Medical Informatics based around the College. The Diploma would deal with
topics such as handling medical data, understanding different types of
computer interfaces, dealing with medical knowledge electronically,
artificial intelligence and decision making and an understanding of medical
computer systems. The diploma will be developed over the next year on a
multidisciplinary basis and will be based on distance learning material. The
Faculty Chairman is Professor Angus Wallace, vice president of the College.
Mr Chris Oliver FRCS(Orth) DM, Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon
from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh will be the part-time Director of the
Faculty. Technical support is being provided by Edinburgh Telemedicine
Solutions http://www.telemed.co.uk who have extensive experience in medical
informatics, telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. The Faculty is
seeking long term funding from various agencies and has been fortunate to
secure software support from Microsoft. 


For further details of the Internet Café and courses contact the Education
Department at [log in to unmask] and for the Faculty of Medical
Informatics contact Chris Oliver at [log in to unmask] Please contact Chris
Oliver if your company wishes to be a industry partner.

_____________________________________
Chris Oliver FRCS (Orth) DM
Edinburgh Orthopaedic Trauma Unit
http://www.orthopaedic.ed.ac.uk/cwo.htm



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