Health IT in Medical School

Medical Students

We have a new wave of medical students that are coming out of medical school in this new generation of technology, social media, and healthcare innovations brought on from departments from hospitals such as Kaiser Permanente. Students now acknowledge that they need access to smartphones, tablets, and any devices that helps them integrate into an advanced society where textbooks are even read on electronic devices. It keeps those already practicing older physicians on their toes as they may feel like they are being weaved out. The Kaiser innovation team are continually improving their health IT each and everyday, I am sure that we are poised to see a huge jump in technological health devices to improve healthcare for patients and online doctor alike.

And as students are being educated through devices, I am sure the implementation of such devices to practice medicine through teleHealth will be a necessity as students will not be educated on the “older” way of practicing. Newly board certified and licensed graduate medical students will be using technology to communicate with their patients via Facebook, Twitter, etc. The influx of positions to employ such an online doctor will increase exponentially in the upcoming years with telemedicine poised to be well-received with benefits and government funding. Using devices to monitor their vital signs, using iPads and other tablets that can generate a front facing camera consultation to watch over patients, or simply using a cellular devices to speak and see with a patient at home.

Two Way Real-Time consultation is making a huge step in the world of medicine with even physician professors broadcasting lectures and PowerPoints through Podcasts and Live Stream Sites. Current board certified students are giving advices over the phone for elders who can’t make it to the office. It also gives the patients the comfortability of being at home. Home is where most patient’s sanctuary remain and if one can be diagnosed in their sanctuary, I’m pretty sure their healthcare would improve. Of course, there remains the security of information using already made applications like Skype and so there have been services where they have employed their own developers to develop a private video application with encryption to protect the patients’ confidentiality.

TeleHealth implementation in medical schools in Arizona and Chicago have been pushing for students to receive or buy iPads because companies are moving towards digital images of the human anatomy and scrubbing through slides on a touchpad. It has been much easier on the school with it saving cost, preserving the environment and adapt to a consumer lifestyle. So when graduating, they will be able to connect with their patient who are probably now technologically literate.

In my foreseeable future, more hospitals will need to hire doctors that are well-trained with technology and trained with these new health devices that can monitor a patient’s vital signs via broadband and WiFi. The ability to follow-up with patients outside of the hospital no matter whether either are will make these future medical students a much needed prospect. A medical school doesn’t have to stand by the old generation of medicine when government funding and private funding are increasing the use of online doctor with telemedicine/telehealth to lessen the cost of running hospitals and free clinics.

Back to School Health Tips

Kids get the most out of their education when they’re healthy enough to actually be in class. Back to school time is one of the times when children are more vulnerable to illness, largely because they are suddenly exposed to a much wider variety of illnesses than they were in contact with during summer vacation. Here are some simple, easy-to-follow instructions that can help to keep your kids at the peak of wellness.

Be Up-to-Date on All Immunizations
Kids may hate it, but they will need to be up-to-date on all of their required immunizations. The majority of schools will not admit or even enroll students who do not have the proper immunization record. Your child’s school will be able to provide you with the information about which immunizations are required and which are recommended. Your doctor will be able to determine which shots your child will need from there and provide you with the appropriate documentation to ensure that your child will be able to attend school.

Keep the School Nurse and Teachers Informed
If your child has any allergies or takes any medications, it is essential for you to let the school nurse and your child’s teachers know. Put this information in writing so that the teachers and nurse can keep them on file in case of emergencies. If your child has food allergies and will be eating school lunch, take the time to speak with cafeteria staff to learn about the procedures they follow to avoid cross-contamination.

Avoid Germs
One of the best ways to avoid getting sick is to avoid coming in contact with germs. Kids of all ages benefit from a reminder to always practice good sanitation habits. Encourage them to always wash their hands after using the restroom, before touching their face or mouth, and before meals. Teach little ones to sneeze and cough into their elbows or shoulders instead of their hands to discourage spreading those germs. Remind them that one of the top ways to catch someone else’s germs is to share their food or drinks that have already been partially consumed.

Maintain Good Nutrition
We often forget that what we use to fuel our bodies has a huge impact on our health. This also applies to growing bodies. By teaching little ones about good nutrition early on, you can help them to make wise choices even when you aren’t around. Understanding how food works with our bodies also can help children to be less at risk for obesity and diabetes, which are becoming greater and greater health risks in our society.

Neville Street is the Administrative Director for Rodriquez MD, a bilingual medical practice in Lawrenceville, GA that provides health care to infants, children, adolescents and adults. Gwinnett doctors Deborah and Veronica Rodriguez are sisters with a combined 27 years of experience. The doctors are Board Certified in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and both Gwinnett physicians have extensive experience working in private practice.

Universal Primary Health Care

Primary Health Care is the Foundation of all Health Care Systems. A strong PHC will build strong healthy populations. Compared to Secondary and Tertiary Health, it only costs Governments a small fraction of the Gross Domestic Product. However, because it is not Glamorous, most Governments, especially Developing Countries neglect it at great cost to their suffering populations. and would rather waste huge amounts in building Fancy Hospitals for the 10 % who are mostly there because of the failure of the PHC System due to inadequate funding and lack of population health education.

However the World Health Organisation has pleaded with all Governments to ensure “Health for All” and PHC can bring solace and comfort to 90% of the Population of the World and instituted 21st Century Millenium Development Goals to guide each country’s shortcomings. Essentially PHC covers 5 Strategies, 1st is to provide Preventative Health Programs like Compulsory Vaccinations Schedules for young and old, Screening programs like Pap’s Smears and Mammography for Women to detect Cancer early and Blood and Urine Screening to detect Chronic Non-communicable Diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart Problems and Respiratory difficulties and of course School Health as well as well -grounded Ante-Natal and Post -natal Programs for the growing populations, especially for the poor and needy.

The 2nd Strategy is to use the various Public Media to Promote Healthy Life Styles against Alcohol, Smoking, Narcotic and other Habit forming Drugs, Educate on Proper Diets and Appropriate Exercise programs to keep People Fit and Healthy. 3rd Strategy is to have adequate PHC Clinics to look after Acute Disease presentations which appear suddenly and have the potential to kill rapidly. 4th Strategy is to manage Chronic N-C Diseases which have increased dramatically and produced so much morbidity and reduced quality of lives. ( upto 50 to 70 % of people bove 30 years of age, Finally 5th Strategy is to Rehabilitate those who have contracted Disabilities due to motor vehicle accidents, strokes and heart attacks to live comfortably as their Human rights and be able to perform their Activities of Daily Living with dignity and privacy.

Primary Health Care is NOT an option BUT a basic human right for every citizen. It therefore becomes a political agenda which every responsible person should value and push for when considering their future Governments. Every country which has invested in a well-organised and developed Primary Health Care System has harvested rich rewards in producing productive populations who in turn have raised the standards of living and equity and justice among all their fellow citizens.

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