Korean J Fam Med. 2011;32:311-316 doi:10.4082/kjfm.2011.32.5.311 Implementation of a Videoconferencing System between Multiple Family Medicine Departments Case Report Kee Hyuck Lee, Ju Young Kim, Kiheon Lee, Belong Cho1, Jeong Hee Yang2, 2 3, Eurah Goh , Woo Kyung Bae * Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, 1Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 2Department of Family Medicine, Kangwon National University Hospital, Kangwon National University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, 3Health Promotion Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea Attending conferences is important for doctors and residents in family medicine. Nevertheless, departments of family medicine at many hospitals ﬁnd it difﬁcult to hold regular conferences. Holding joint videoconferences between Family Medicine Departments of several hospitals through a videoconferencing system could solve this problem. Therefore, Family Medicine Departments of Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and Kangwon National University Hospital decided to hold regular joint videoconferences via a videoconferencing system. Eighty-one joint videoconferences were held from April 1 to October 29, 2010. PowerPoint slideshows were transferred to the other two locations in the same resolution as presenter’s monitor. Image and voice of the speaker were transferred in real time and in acceptable quality. Joint videoconferences are feasible, satisfactory and useful for medical education, especially when individual family medicine departments are small and lack resources to hold face-to-face conferences. We expect that more family medicine departments will choose to participate in implementing similar joint videoconferencing systems in the future. Keywords: Videoconference; Medical Education; Family Medicine New knowledge is continuously created in medicine. continuous education and clinical experience in a variety of INTRODUCTION Received: April 18, 2011, Accepted: July 2, 2011 *Corresponding Author: Woo Kyung Bae Tel: 82-31-787-7805, Fax: 82-31-787-4014 E-mail: naslig@daum.net Korean Journal of Family Medicine Copyright © 2011 The Korean Academy of Family Medicine This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Korean J Fam Med Therefore, continuing medical education is critical, and conferences are one of the most useful methods of providing this education.1,2) Doctors and residents in family medicine require specialties. Conferences are mandatory in residency programs. Nevertheless, family medicine departments of many hospitals find it difficult to hold regular, independent conferences.3) Frequency of conferences decreases when a family medicine department has a smaller body of residents and staff.4) Seoul National University Bundang Hospital Department of Family Medicine (SNUBHFM) was established in 2009 with three staff members and no residents, and was unable to hold regular conferences for a year. Kangwon National University Hospital Department of Family Medicine (KNUHFM) has six residents and two staff members, and experienced similar difficulties as Vol. 32, No. 5 Jul 2011 | 311