The University of Tromsø is planning a Master of Telemedicine

It is important for all telemedicine users to understand the technology and the possibilities offered by new developments. However, it is equally important that they understand the mechanisms that encourage the implementation of telemedicine, and the corresponding inhibiting factors. What the field seems to need is candidates who are informed about both health services and technology, and who are capable of taking forward the process towards an efficient use of telemedicine. A master’s course in telemedicine will offer a comprehensive view of the field. After having completed the programme, the students will be able to take into consideration all the important issues for a success.

Telemedicine is also a field in continuous change. Technology is improving, prices are falling, new medical tools and methods are being introduced and the way in which health care services are organized is changing. Knowledge which was initially sound can become outdated quickly. A research-based attitude should thus be the only valid basis for an education programme at postgraduate level, especially if the programme aims to qualify students for entering a subsequent PhD course.

We have now formulated the general outlines of our telemedicine master’s course. It will be a two-year programme, recruiting undergraduates from a range of disciplines, and will cover topics such as telecommunication services, telemedicine methods and applications, information management, and medical documents and images, as well as topics relating to organizational principles and the quality of telemedicine services. The programme will use a definition of telemedicine which embraces the remote rendering of all health services, including services for patients in their own homes. It will endeavour to tie research-based education to the more practice-oriented use and development of telemedicine services. The master’s degree will qualify students to lead the development and implementation of services and programmes, to provide telemedicine education and to enter a PhD programme. Mainly the teaching will demand that students are located on campus but the course will be a considerable internationally focus. According to the preliminary plan the first group of master students will be able to start in August 2004.

One important goal is to ensure that adequate attention is paid to the multidisciplinary nature of telemedicine practice. Implementing telemedicine services or programmes successfully very often depends on whether the technical medical/healthcare issues as well as the organizational aspects are dealt with coherently. Telemedicine education programmes should reflect this. However, multidisciplinary education also raises some problems which have not yet been fully explored. One of the questions is how to prevent a loss of rigour in the quality and depth in which each of the scientific fields involved is treated.

For further information:
Gjermund Hartviksen (Project Leader) gjermund.hartviksen@telemed.no Phone: +47 777 54117 or
Georg Sager (Dean) Georg.Sager@fagmed.uit.no – Phone: +47 776 44764.

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