Dear Colleague,
The coming of the Internet can be compared with the birth of your first
child. Everyone tells you that it will change your life beyond belief and
you think you have understood what they mean and that you are perfectly
prepared... until the day arrives. Clinicians are soon to find out that
their use of the Internet is not a pastime or a hobby or an interest, it
is an absolute necessity.
Doctors are traditionally those members of society who have embraced new
technology, and utilisation of computer technology is no exception. We do,
however, need help with this new and powerful instrument. Unlimited access
to world-wide, unedited information, just like nuclear power, has the
potential for great benefit but also for great harm. How are we to use
this new tool safely and effectively?
In this issue of Gynaecology Forum a group of clinicians and individuals
with experience of using the Internet for medical purposes provide insight
and ideas on the way forward. Dr Hans van der Slikke has expertly brought
together his team of authors in order to illustrate the immense
versatility of Internet use. They describe how the Internet can deliver
educational information as specific as laser coagulation results in cases
of twin-to-twin transfusion or tutorials on CTG interpretation. Systems
exist for recording research data and multinational clinical trials. Most
radically, our relationship with our patients will change as they too have
access to medical data and two-way information exchange. Most
significantly, all these changes apply just as much to the developing as
to the developed world.
This issue aspires to direct physicians and patients to trustworthy
Internet offerings. You (and your patients) are encouraged to access the
many cited Internet pages recommended by our team.
And as for Gynaecology Forum?
See http://www.medforum.nl/gynfo/index.htm
Stephen Killick
Editor-in-Chief