Telemedicine will play a central role in certain educational programs. The first users will be students with a special interest in careers in rural Arizona. Through the use of satellites and a specially designed tele-conference room, Biomedical Communications at AHSC broadcasts internal medicine lectures to a dozen locations throughout the state. Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. Video conferencing equipment brings the three sites together as seamlessly as possible, creating an exchange of ideas among public health students living and learning in different Arizona cities.
Plans are under way to introduce health sciences students to telemedicine early in their education.
Then, while on their clinical rotations at rural communities during their third and fourth years of medical school, the students will stay in contact with faculty at the College of Medicine in Tucson. Dr. Weinstein predicts that the devices will evolve into mobile telemedicine workstations that link physicians to large health care information systems. The telemedicine program also may provide today's students with glimpses into the future of medical practice. It seems reasonable to predict that some physicians will be members of 'virtual group practices,' linked by computers. The sense of geographic isolation in rural areas will fade as communities become linked to the information superhighway.