High-Speed Internet2 Link Revolutionizes HIV/AIDS Education

[Guest guest]

High-Speed Internet2 Link Revolutionizes Global Medical Education

Newswise — Imagine s Hopkins faculty members performing microsurgery in

Tanzania from a computer terminal in a Baltimore operating room, or health care

experts in Vietnam presenting an avian influenza patient to medical students

gathered in the Hopkins

outpatient center. These are some of the possible applications of a high-tech

Internet communication system that will be used for the first time next week to

link s Hopkins faculty with clinicians in

India.

Internet2 is a high-speed, high-bandwidth, dedicated Internet network developed

in 1996 by leaders in the research and education community in the United States

as a way to better support education and research collaborations worldwide. On

Tuesday, Oct. 3, s

Hopkins faculty members will use this technology to conduct an interactive

clinical education program on HIV/AIDS, with leading health care professionals

in India.

This is a major advancement in global medical education,” says C.

Bollinger M.D., M.P.H., professor of infectious diseases at The s Hopkins

University School of Medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Global

Health Education. “This technology will allow us to bring Hopkins’ expertise in

clinical education to some of the most resource-limited settings in the world,

and it will

give Hopkins the opportunity to learn from experts in the field, thousands of

miles away.”

Bollinger says he chose HIV/AIDS for the Internet2 presentation because it’s a

high-priority health issue in India and he has worked extensively in that

country researching the disease.

Typical bandwidth for standard Internet conferencing is 384 kilobits per second,

according to Bollinger. Internet2 operates at 2 megabits per second. The higher

bandwidth allows for better resolution and

permits faculty to utilize complex imaging techniques like manipulating 3-D MRI

images.

“You could never perform these procedures with a standard connection,” says

Bollinger.

The program, running from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. EDT, will link HIV/AIDS faculty

experts from India and s Hopkins using high-resolution, multipoint video

conferencing, digital microscopy, 3-D imaging and

other unique e-learning tools.

Participants will be located in six facilities: four separate locations at the

s Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore; the World Bank in Washington,

D.C.; Capital Technology Information Services (CTIS) in Gaithersburg, Md.;

National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) in Pune, India; BJ Medical College in

Pune,

India; and Education and Research Network (ERNET) in New Delhi, India.

A Web broadcast will also be available for viewing by standard Internet

connection at http://codian.oar.net, login 9087.

Highlighting the program are a series of clinical demonstrations: Ophthalmology

and HIV/AIDS, presented by Sanjay Kedhar M.D., clinical instructor of

ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at s Hopkins; Pathology of

HIV-associated Diseases,presented by P. , M.D., associate professor

of pathology at s Hopkins; HIV/AIDS Neurological Complications, presented by

McArthur, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., professor and chief neurologist at s Hopkins;

HIV Drug Resistance, presented by F. Siliciano, M.D., Ph.D., professor of

immunology and Medical

Institute Investigator at s Hopkins.

The presentations will be followed by discussions by high-level AIDS experts

from India.

____________

P. Huynh Do,MD

e-mail: <huynhdophi@...>