Digital Divide: Closing the Gap
The Raspberry-Pi is a small computer installed in an Emergency Department or clinic and allows access to up-to-date medical education through smart-phone apps.
Can digital technology help fill the medical education gap? The World Health Assembly in May 2018 agreed on a digital health resolution that urged member states to prioritize the “development, evaluation, implementation, scale up and greater utilization of digital technologies as a means of promoting equitable, affordable and universal access to health for all.”
The recommendations focus on areas such as improved access to care, technical support for developing digital systems and improved health-care delivery systems. The TWB team were encouraged to note there is also mention of; “developing guidance for digital health…including through the identification and promotion of best practices, such as evidence-based digital health interventions and standards…”.
Our Continuing Medical Education on Stick (CMES) and CMES-Pi deliver continuing medical education digitally to doctors and nurses in resource-constrained countries through a novel IT solution that doesn’t depend on a constant source of electricity or Internet, making it ideal in countries with under-developed infrastructure. It allows them access to up-to-date medical information and treatment plans.
More about how CMES affects a doctor’s everyday practice with a story from Fiji to be posted next week.
