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"Intellectual Property and Access to Medicine for the Poor"

By Alicia Gallegos, special to the Reporter During a student demonstration in 2010, instructors at Stanford University School of Medicine loaded a children's wagon with all the learning materials medical students traditionally acquire in their preclinical years. The towering stacks of paper rose 3 feet high.

Scott, An interesting article. I know that medical schools (and allied health education, including nursing) have been leaders in adopting new technologies for educational purposes. Medical schools immediately identified a use for using podcasts to teach medical students how to detect abnormal heart sounds! Research quickly followed to prove this to be the most effective form of teaching normal and abnormal cardiac sounds. This learning concept is also used to teach radiology residents how to recognize normal and abnormal blood flow sounds when examining vessels (arteries/veins) using doppler ultrasound. Pharmacy schools (and departments) have utilized iPads/tablets/smartphone to run apps (http://www.appszoom.com/android-apps/pharmacology) that include entire pharmacology drug reference lists, commonly used drugs/medications, standard dosages, etc. for quick, searchable referencing.

Scott, I am curious about the level of security placed on the wireless networks used in hospital environments. The more mobile the physicians, nurses and caregivers, the more secure the wireless networks need to be. What measures are being taken to guarantee secure airwaves? Bill

Virtual reality is catching on as a tool in medicine. The technology has been used to treat phobias, reduce pain and even help doctors perform surgery. Now virtual reality is being tried as a way to help people with disabilities explore the world that might be difficult or impossible in real life.