Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications technology to provide healthcare services at a distance [1] Telehealth, a closely related term, encompasses a broader definition to include activities beyond clinical services such as education and administrative services [2]. Telemedicine provides unique opportunities to meet some of the challenges of contemporary trauma education. At the core of such technologies is videoconferencing, which is frequently used to deliver trauma care and education in real-time. In addition to meeting trauma educational needs, telemedicine

is promoting international collaborations that promise to revolutionize the way trauma care is delivered on a population-based level. This paper will review the use of telemedicine in trauma, with emphasis www.selleckchem.com/products/ABT-737.html on education. Experience implementing trauma tele-educational activities from our respective institutions will be check details highlighted. Telemedicine for trauma In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the field of telemedicine. Due to a combination of technology-driven market forces, as well as increasing demands for improvements

in the global health sector; these advances are providing the tools necessary to enhance medical care and education. Telemedicine in trauma can be used for the routine monitoring of patients [3], to austere environments and large-scale disasters [4]. Examples of PI3K Inhibitor Library telehealth services include specialist consultations, remote patient monitoring, continuing education, and referral services. Wide adoption of telemedicine and telehealth

promises increased access to quality trauma care, while simultaneously reducing costs. At its fundamental core, telemedicine is based on the ethical principle that quality care should be made available to all Methisazone people, anywhere and at anytime. The trauma, emergency and critical care fields are facing multiple challenges worldwide. Issues with overcrowding, increased demands for trauma care, lack of funding, and a lack of disaster preparedness have been identified as chief concerns [5]. Of particular concern is the continued workforce shortage, including shortage of specialists and nurses. Researchers estimate that there will be significant shortages of physicians across several surgical specialties [6]. As population increases, it is estimated that there will be a deficit of 6,000 general surgeons by 2050 [7]. Several factors have been identified as contributors to the shortage; including barriers to recruitment of medical students into general surgery residencies, and general dissatisfactions with lifestyle concerns. In trauma care there are inherent discrepancies, particularly between rural and urban areas. Inadequate access to trauma is a reality for many populations. Despite research that patients have better outcomes when treated at designated trauma centers, many hospitals around the world that provide injury care are not such facilities [8].