Blog Summary

Throughout the entire semester, I have read a wide range of articles involving medical technology and different aspects of healthcare throughout the world. I have learned a lot about different countries and about the positives and negatives associated with their healthcare systems. As a future physician, I think that it is important to me that I understand global healthcare and the disparities that exist in other areas of the globe. I hope that this post will effectively summarize my blog, and will help to highlight the best of my blog so far this semester.

My favorite blog post was the one about Health's Angels, but since I wrote something about this in my last post, I will choose another one to highlight in this post. I enjoyed the posts including the photographs that I took as well as the ones I chose for my visual representations of medical technology. I enjoy looking at photographs, especially from other countries around the globe, and as we discussed in class, a photograph can say so much without any text to go with the photograph. I particularly enjoyed going into the doctor's office and taking photographs related to my blog, and I found it interesting that I took around 150 pictures, and only ended up using three of them. I had a few other good ones, but those were clearly the best and most of the 150 were not of good enough quality to post. It was an interesting assignment, and I enjoyed feeling like a professional photographer for that day.

My least favorite post was probably my first post about social networking, because I don't feel that social networking related very well to my particular topic so I had trouble producing quality posts during the week of that topic. While I understand that it fit in with our class themes well, I think it was one of the most difficult topics for many people to apply. While facebook and other sites have come a long way in various fields, I think that have a long way to go to encompass all topics, especially medicine.

Overall from this blog, I learned that there are a lot of stereotypes that exist about other countries and the healthcare that they have and the technology associated with medicine used. Particularly, I was surprised with the information that I learned about India. I didn't know that they were so far behind in many areas of medicine, including public education and medical technology. However, I also learned that India is advanced in their medical education, and they have a strict and rigorous path for aspiring physicians, and India produces a lot of great and well-known physicians. In addition, I learned ways in which technologies that I never thought could be applied to medicine are used in the medical field in some way. Particularly interesting to me was the use of cell phones in Africa for health professionals to receive information to help them to provide better and more comprehensive healthcare.

I hope that from my blog, my readers have expanded their horizons regarding medicine and their perceptions of others areas of the world and their levels of technology. For those with a science or medical background, I hope that I have expanded their knowledge and helped them to have a better understanding of the United States in relation to other nations in the area of healthcare and medical technology. For those with no science background, I think that I avoided the use of medical terms or anything extremely scientific so that everyone was able to hopefully learn something from this blog. I hope to have changed the way people think about areas of the world like India and Africa, and maybe even changed their perceptions of healthcare and medicine in the United States.

After a semester in this class, I feel that I've had a valuable experience and that I have learned a lot about a variety of subjects. I am glad that I signed up for the class, and would recommend it to future students. Not only did I learn about various technologies including video games, social networking, and mobile technology, I also learned a lot about my personal blog topic as well as the others that I have read. I think the peer evaluations were an important part of the class because it gave me the chance to read other people's blogs that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I enjoyed learning about technology and communication, fashion, and sports/exercise, and I think that I'll continue to read blogs more often after the culmination of this class. In addition, I think that I will keep blogging, either on my blog from this class, or on another personal blog about a topic of choice. I'm glad I was introduced to so much technology, and I think the class was extremely educational.

Medicine in today's society

As I've read various articles on the topic of medicine and technology around the globe this semester, I've really really valuable information and beyond that, lessons about some misconceptions that I had about other areas of the world. First and foremost, from the beginning, I have been surprised and awed by the amount and caliber of the technology that exists in India. The medical education that occurs in India is incredibly structured, strict, and demanding, and I find it so interesting that they have on reputation among many people while they actually have a widespread and advanced medical system. One of the most interesting articles that I read this semester regarding India was the one that described the medical schooling that aspiring physicians have to endure in order to become doctors in India. In the United States, medical school is seen to be one of the most demanding types of graduate schools possible, along with Law School, but in India the curriculum is much more demanding, structured, and detailed. I think that the U.S. could stand to take a lesson from India in their medical school requirements because India is well known for producing exceptional physicians.

Aside from the places in the world that surprised me, certain parts of technology surprised me a great deal along the way as well. For example, the use of iTunes for medical games or other applications to be used on iPhones or other apple devices by physicians in the field was surprising and interesting for me to learn. The fact that society is utilizing resources not originally meant for purposes like medical education in order to educate and inform people of medical information, is a great testament to the ability to use technology in any aspect of life if used correctly. Another example of surprising technology was the use of mobile phones in places like Uganda and Malawi in order to deliver important information to health care professionals in those areas of Africa. I think the use of mobile phones in this way is so essential to the spread of potentially life-saving information to areas of the world where resources and knowledgeable individuals are lacking due to location or poverty. The lack of supplies and resources that exists in parts of Africa amazes me, and I think that with the use of technology, they are slowly making the forward progress needed. An important example of an improvement in the health care system of Africa, or at least in the awareness of the people of Africa, is the decrease in the number of people affected by AIDs throughout the continent. The spread of information is often done through the use of various technologies, and people are becoming more aware of the treatment and prevention of AIDs in Africa.

I'm currently reading a book about Dr. Paul Farmer, an infectious disease doctor who practices both in Boston and Haiti helping to cure infectious diseases. The book presents the stark contrast that exists between health care in Haiti and in the United States, and offers some examples of technology that Dr. Farmer has in Boston and lacks in Haiti. I've never touched on Haiti in any of my posts specifically, but I think the book brings a good point up regarding health care in various areas of the world. In one part of the book, he discusses a patient being brought to his clinic by "donkey ambulance" and the young, inexperienced doctors available to help her. Dr. Farmer successfully took over the spinal tap on the young female, but stressed that he wants to try and build a medical system that can work as well in his absence as when he is present. It is an interesting look into the differences that exist between a doctor's office in Boston and a clinic in Haiti, including many references to technology and availability of various resources. I look forward to continuing the book and am sure that I will have more to say about it in future postings.

When I started writing this blog, I thought that my focus would mostly end up being on devices used in medical offices and settings, like MRI machines and X-rays, and not on how other technology like mobile phones and social networking relate to medicine and it's advancement in different areas of the world. I've been surprised and I have learned a lot from the various articles that I've read throughout the semester. Through this blog, I was able to learn a lot about the technology integrated with the medical world, and I think that as I enter into medical school, I may continue writing on this blog new information that I learn about the use of new technologies in the medical discipline.

Anchorsplash slideshow

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Maryland Day Alternative Assignment

For the Maryland Day alternative assignment, I decided to cover an annual event called Anchorsplash. The event is hosted at the indoor pool at the Eppley Recreation Center on campus by Delta Gamma to help raise money for their philanthropy, Service for Sight. Sponsors are asked to donate money to help obtain prizes for the winners, and teams can sign up to participate in the events of the day. Most of the time, the participants include other greek organizations, but other teams have also been formed like the Water Polo team that signed up this year. At the event, each team competes in a variety of events including: biggest and smallest splash, rubber ducky races, and "Save a DG." The highlight of the day is always the synchronized swimming event at the end, in which each team prepares a routine to preform for the audience. Seeing fraternity men preform synchronized swimming routines to songs like "My Heart Will Go On" always proves to be entertaining. This year, the guest judges included Davin Meggett (UMD football player), a DG advisor, and the PHA advisor, Liz Brown. Zeta Psi won Anchorsplash this year after a heated competition, and some very entertaining routines. I've posted two videos of different synchronized swimming routines and a slideshow of photos from the event (seen in the post above). In addition, I have interviews with a few of the people present, as well as Sarah Horvitz, the coordinator of the entire event. The audio clips are posted on the class blog and are titled "Anchorsplash 1...2...3...and 4."

iTunes and Medicine

As I began to search for topics to fill my blog requirement for these past two weeks, I typed in "iTunes and medicine," not expecting to find much about the topic. However, I was surprised as I have been throughout this whole blog that there is a wealth of information about iTunes and its relation to medicine. The number of apps that can be purchased through iTunes for iPhones and iPod touches relating to medicine, is overwhelming. There are applications for everything related to medicine, from drug databases to interfaces for electronic medical records of patients. As someone who has shadowed in the offices of various doctors, I have seen a number of doctors pull out some sort of "smartphone" or iPod device to look up a piece of medical information that they couldn't recall from memory. On more then one occasion, I've seen a physician refer to an application on an iPhone to help them remember doses of various drugs.

The use of iTunes to download medical applications has become more and more common over the years, and I think its interesting to realize the use of technology not originally intended to act in the field of medicine now serving such an important role. The ability for doctors to virtually have hundreds of reference books at their fingertips on a daily basis helps to improve the quality of care provided to patients while they visit their doctor's offices on a regular basis.

As discussed on a blog posted by Dr. Joshua Schwimmer, MD about medical technology, there are a lot of applications related to medical technology available in iTunes. Some of the specific applications referenced include: Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards, iChart EMR, and Lexi-COMPLETE. Doctor's have access to a wealth of information to help them to practice better medicine on a daily basis, and if this technology could be expanded to developing countries, I think that medicine would improve in those areas substantially as a result. For example, as discussed in an earlier post, many people in rural areas of the developing world are forced to treat patients based on what they can recall from their medical training. Access to applications like the ones mentioned above would help health care professionals to be able to better treat patients because they would be able to gain access to information quickly when they don't have extensive personal memory of the particular topic at hand.

Visual Representation of Medicine

As I searched for more examples of visual representation of medical technology around the world, I found some interesting examples of photographs related to medicine, especially in areas of the world like those that I've been discussing throughout the semester. In each of the photographs below, the photographer uses different portrayals of medicine in various areas of the world in order to convey an assortment of feelings and ideas.


The first photograph is of a typical operating room or procedure room in a typical doctor's office or hospital in the United States. There are various screens hanging from the ceiling, an operating table, shelves full of supplies, and machinery to monitor vital signals. In this photograph, the photographer seems to be trying to portray the cleanliness of a medical room and the various technologies that are used in these types of rooms in the U.S. or other countries that have advanced medical systems. The stark white floor stands out, as well as the steel and off-white appliances that represent the medical technology in place in the room. The photograph is very impersonal, and uses the clean lines of the room to portray a serious and sterile environment. As far as the photograph goes, the rule of thirds is applied well as the table designates the bottom third of the photograph, and the beginning of the ceiling designates the top third of the photograph. The rule of the thirds in the other direction isn't as clear, as the table is centered in the middle of the photograph, but I still think that the clarity is good and the photograph is pleasing to the eye.


The second photograph portrays an operating room being used by two surgeons to operate on a patient. Immediately, it is easy to see that this room is far less advanced as far as technology compared to the first photograph. The lack of computer monitors and screens in the photograph is the most obvious difference in this room. It seems to be a much more elementary operating room that would be located in a country with a more developing medical system and less advanced technology. The subjects are centered again in the middle of the picture so the rule of thirds isn't followed very well in that sense, but the horizontal parts of the picture are divided into three basic sections, with the top of the operating table designating the bottom third, the surgeons in the middle portion, and the bottom of the light beginning the top third of the picture. The lighting in the picture is a little dark, but I think it helps with the message of the photograph and the feeling that the operating room is supposed to convey.


This picture displays a different type of medical "office" located in Africa. It displays a traditional healer treating a patient with some kind of plant or root. The setting is obviously completely different from the past two photographs, and it is clear that this is a completely different type of medicine than in the previous photographs. It offers an insight into the world of traditional medicine that is still often practiced in developing countries in the face of various illnesses and medical issues. As far as the photograph quality goes, it is a clear photograph that includes a lot of emotion and has a lot of story behind it. The rule of thirds is followed vertically, as the people are in the two side thirds and the middle third is the space between them.


This last photograph depicts a doctor that is listening to the chest of a young African boy from a developing part of the continent. It is clear that the boy's stomach appears distended and he doesn't have a shirt on, which indicates poverty in the developing world. The doctor appears to be with some sort of organization visiting the country to offer medical assistance to the natives. The photographer is attempting to portray despair and poverty with the little boy, and extreme focus and concentration in the face of the doctor. The rule of thirds is used because the stethoscope against the boy's chest is off-center, and he makes up the third that is furthest to the left in the picture. Overall, its a great picture portraying intense emotions with a potentially moving story behind it.

Overall, the photographs included in this post do a great job of portraying medical technology in a visual way. Each of the photos conveys incredibly different emotions, and each captures a different type of moment or scene. The photographs go from a highly advanced and technological operating room, to a doctor listening to a young boy's heart beat in the field in a developing country in Africa. The stark contrast between the first picture and the last picture provides insight into the differences in medical technology between different areas of the world. This post follows my blog nicely in that it progresses from the advanced technology of the United States to the medical technology of the developing world.

Personal Photographs

The following photographs are the ones that I have shot to visually capture medical technology throughout the world. Keeping the rule of thirds in mind, I shot the photographs in a medical facility and edited each of them using the Picasa Google program.

Medicine captured in photos

In this photograph, a stethoscope is shown plugged into the USB port of a laptop computer. I think this photograph is a good example of medical technology shown in a photograph. Medicine is relying more and more on computers, and this picture portrays the computer as being like a doctor since doctors are the ones that usually wear stethoscopes. It's an interesting picture and I think it portrays the idea of medicine moving more and more toward relying completely on technology if it doesn't already. As far as the actual photograph goes, I think that it uses the principle of thirds, and places the stethoscope laying on the laptop around the intersection of the upper right lines. The picture is also great quality and very clear and crisp and interesting visually because the background is so stark and white.



This photograph depicts two individuals moving a person on a stretcher through some part of Africa. The picture displays the limited technology and resources that many of the hospitals in most of Africa have, and contrasts greatly with the health care facilities and practices in the United States. When you consider the setting that a person is generally in when being pulled on a stretcher in the United States, it is very different from the setting depicted in this photograph. It provides insight into the types of areas where health care has to be delivered in some areas of Africa. As far as the picture quality is concerned, it uses the rule of thirds very well because there are three subjects and they are spaced out well with each one of the thirds. However, unlike the last photograph, the quality isn't as great and photograph seems to be blurry and of lower quality.




This photograph depicts someone administering an innoculation to a young patient in India. The environment of the "doctor's office" is much different than here as can be seen in the photograph. There seems to be a doctor, a nurse, the mother, and another individual looking over the shoulder of the nurse to see what is happening. It seems less formal than in the United States, and it seems that she entered into a room to receive the shot quickly and then leave. As far as the actual photograph, the quality is good and the photograph is clear. However, the rule of thirds isn't so much in play here as it is in the previous photographs. The focus is the little girl getting the shot in her arm, and that is shifted down from the center, but the photograph is crowded and seems to not utilize the principle of thirds very well overall.

All of the photographs discussed portray global health care and medical technology in very different ways. Prior to researching these photographs, I was unsure of how medical technology could be displayed short of entering into a hospital and taking photographs of patients and physicians in countries like India and Africa. The first picture especially offers a more figurative view of medical technology, while the second two display more concrete examples of health care in other areas of the world.

Global Health Care

Unfortunately, beyond what I wrote about two weeks ago, not much information exists about the use of social networking websites in relation to health care around the world. As time goes on, I'm sure facebook and other similar sites will begin to be used for health care purposes, but the chances that it will spread to third world countries is slim, especially anytime in the near future. For this week's blog, instead of writing about social networking, I'm just going to discuss health care policies and systems that exist in other countries. Currently, as I'm sure everyone knows, health care reform is a major issue in the news currently and Obama's bill was just recently signed. Whether you or I agree with his ideas or not, one of his main selling points of the bill was always that so many other countries exist with government-run health care plans and it works out just fine. I decided to explore the health care systems that exist in other countries of the world and see if they are in fact as successful as Obama has claimed them to be. Some of the countries will have these government-run types of plans and others won't, but I think getting a broad range of systems is important in evaluating our current system and the direction our system is headed in due to this new bill.

My first area of focus will be South Africa, as it has been for a lot of my posts so far. In South Africa, there is a quickly growing private section of health care, and a larger public section that is offered to all citizens of South Africa automatically. The public system is incredibly crowded and does not have nearly enough resources to support the population that is using it, according to an article called Health Care in South Africa. In addition, the private area of health care only supports those people who can afford the plans, which tend to be the wealthier classes, health care professionals, and foreigners who want cheaper health care than provided in the United States. According to the same article, public health care serves about 80% of the population while private health care serves only about 20% of the population. Despite this split, most of the 40% spent on health care goes towards the private section. In addition, the public hospitals mostly only have primary care facilities and in order for people to see specialists, they must go to a private hospital which costs substantially more money. I find it interesting that the part of their system that is public is drowning because of the lack of health care professionals to serve the immense number of people utilizing the system. Personally, I feel that the same could ultimately happen in the United States with the new plan in place. There are only so many doctors and nurses, and many hospitals are already overcrowded and professionals are overworked. The bill just passed could result in more overcrowding and inadequate health care being offered just to pass through patients and keep the system moving.

The next country that I will discuss will be India. I've touched on different areas of their health care before, and it was apparent that they are more advanced than many people think they are when it comes to health care and technology. According to an article called Healthcare in India in the 1980s, India's health care system was mostly public and government-owned. Since then, private health care systems have taken over and almost all of the hospitals are privately owned. The hospitals in India are world-class and their medical education is strict and structured and much longer then American medical education. Many people don't know much about health care in India, but it seems that it is advanced and much more private that publicly owned. One of the major things about India health care that struck me as somewhat incredible is that there is little to no waiting time in corporate hospitals for surgeries. It says in the article mentioned above that there is usually an 8-10 day wait for elective procedures from the first contact made with an Indian hospital. This is unheard of in the United States, and I think that it speaks of their high quality of health care and high prevalence of medical professionals.

One more country that I want to touch on more briefly than some of the others is China. While China is a major world power and has a very different health care system from the United States, I don't feel the need to go into too much depth about their system in particular. One thing that I read that struck me as drastically different from any other health care system that I've read about is their complete lack of primary care doctors. According to an article called Healthcare in China even in large cities, there are no primary care doctors offices like you would see here in the United States. Therefore, all patients have to go into hospitals for any type of health concern, and therefore, the hospital in China are overcrowded and chaotic due to the immense population and the concentration of people in the cities. This difference is staggering to me, and I can't even fathom a world without primary care doctors to go to for physicals and check-ups. The article even mentions that there is nothing resembling a real structured appointment system, so people are just expected to show up to the hospitals and wait to be seen for whatever their ailment may be that day. I can't get over the picture in my head of an overpopulated city like Beijing waiting in line at a hospital for a prescription for something as simple as penicillin.

During the research that I conducted for this post, it struck me that often the more advanced health care systems are the ones that have become more and more private over the years. The public health care systems seem to exist and still be alive in countries that are still developing or struggling. The United States is making a transition slowly to public health care, and it leads me to wonder if this is really a step forward for the country as a whole or if it is in fact, a step back.

"Health's Angels"

As I was conducting research for my blog this week about social networking and health care, I came across an organization unlike any that I had ever heard about before and I thought it was interesting and pertinent enough to my topic for me to share it with all of you. In addition, this organization and their mission can be seen as a type of social networking, in a sense that people are coming together and networking with each other to form a larger group to assist in a common goal. While I know that many people consider social networking to be websites and techonlogical, I think that an organization like Health's Angels is a social network within itself. And while this may be a broad interpretation, it's the closest I have been able to come thus far to tying the topic into my personal blog topic.

The organization is called Riders for Health, and was started in 1986 by the Colemans who had been avid motorcycle riders for a number of years. Andrea Coleman, the founder of Riders for Health, had a vision after returning from a trip to Africa and seeing the terrible health conditions that existed in rural areas because of lack of transportation for the people and for medicines themselves. She also realized on her trip that there seemed to be a lot of broken down vehicles in Africa that could be used to help improve health care mobility if people knew how to fix and maintain them. While the organization now works with any types of vehicles, they run them in order to transport medical supplies and ill patients back and forth from hospitals to rural areas. This organization has made significant differences in health care in Africa by substantially reducing the time it takes to transport supplies and people.

Currently, the organization is planning to expand to Malawi and possibly to other nations in Africa eventually. I think it's interesting to look at something that is helping health care improve in other areas of the world that one would never consider. Using the knowledge that she had, Andrea Coleman was able to make a difference by helping to repair vehicles and make them sustainable for the residents of Africa to use in medical situations.

Social networking?

Unfortunately, unlike with the mobile technology blog, I was unable to find much or any information at all about social networking being used in developing countries to assist in medicine and health care. The only correlation that I was able to recognize was the use of social networking sites in the United States to help efforts in other countries regarding health care. For example, the Red Cross utilizes facebook to raise awareness about various health disparities and issues around the world. Other organization also have facebook pages and groups that can be accessed by anyone and can help raise awareness about health care issues in other countries.

Since this was the only information that I could really find regarding health care and social networking, I decided to blog about a few things that I found interesting. I will continue the theme from last week and discuss more about mobile technology and health care in other nations.

First, I wanted to discuss some of the other aspects of mobile technology use in relation to health care and medicine in other countries around the world. There is a program currently in place in Malawi and Uganda that works to provide cheap mobile phones to people and uses text messages to deliver valuable health information to patients. The organization is called FrontlineSMS-Medic and they provided open-source software in order to use cell phones and text messaging technology to deliver information to various patients throughout the rural areas of the two nations. The program allows for people to remain connected to their health care providers in areas where they can't be physically connected. Unlike the aspects of mobile technology being used to assist in improving health care that were discussed last week, this plan gives mobile phones and text messaging abilities to patients themselves rather then just to health care professionals. While it's important for health care professionals to have access to resources and information, patients in rural areas need to have access to the health professionals for it to mean anything and for it to make a difference in their treatments at all.

A completely different aspect of health care and mobile technology that I haven't talked about involves delivering aid, specifically food aid, to Iraqi refugees living in Syria. Instead of being directly involved with health care and medicine, it is involved with allowing people in this area to purchase food. While this isn't medicine persay, it is food that keeps people healthy and able to survive without needing medical care, so I think it is an important part of health care and helping improve the health of people in developing countries. The concept is that text message food vouchers are sent to individuals with the phones. The UN started this program in order to easily and quickly deliver food vouchers to people in developing and war-torn areas so that they are able to exchange the virtual vouchers for food like cheese, eggs, rice, and flour. The information about this particular initiative can be found on this website highlighting Global Health, although there is unfortunately not a wealth of information about it at this point in time.

To conclude the section about mobile technology use and medicine and health care in developing countries, I think that is important to realize that just because countries are developing and are miles behind the United States, it is possible for many people in these areas to have cell phone service and to own a cell phone. Mobile technology use has spread to parts of the world that people would never imagine, and it's crucial to utilize such technologies in this day and age. It's so important to reach the people and health care professionals in these communities, and cell phones provide an instant way to communicate and spread awareness and information regarding health care and personal welfare to people in areas like Africa, India, and Syria.

Mobile Observations

After reading the article, “New Media and Society,” I feel that I have better insight into some of the behaviors of people when friends are engaging in “cross talk” that I never would have necessarily noticed before. I think that most of the observations made still exist today. I know that if I am at a restaurant or anywhere and my friend is engaged in a phone call, I either take out my phone at text someone, check emails, browse the web, or even just make it look like I’m doing something. In addition, I think that people will drink coffee and look around at the surrounding environment so as to not seem awkward and alone while someone else is engaged in conversation that doesn’t include you. While I think that many of the behaviors noted in the article are the same today, I think that one aspect has changed drastically. Now, more than anything else, I feel that people will take out their own cell phones and engage in text messaging or browsing through their phones in order to seem engaged and not appear as a “single.” This idea is discussed in the study but doesn’t seem to be the overwhelming response to cross talk as I feel that it is today.

I think the various terms of the study were pretty comprehensive. I think the idea of cross talk is an important one, as it definitely does happen more and more with increased cell phone use in today’s society. I found the idea of the three-way interactions interesting especially because throughout this week, I have observed this happening once or twice. When the “single” knows the person on the other end of the phone call, it is often true that they will attempt to engage in the conversation based only on the part they hear from their friend. It is interesting to see this occur since they are only hearing half of the conversation and attempting to respond, but it is definitely something that I have observed around campus this week. In addition, the idea discussed about caller hegemony interested me because it is also something that is regularly observable around this campus and everywhere in public. For example, a girl that I was sitting near in Starbucks on Thursday decided to answer her phone even though it seemed like she was engaged in a serious and deep conversations with the person that she was with. It is interesting and somewhat surprising to me that this occurs, but as it was pointed out in the article, it is true that when a landline phone rings, its customary to drop whatever people are doing and answer it. I never really thought about that carrying over into cell phone use, but it is obvious from observation that it does.

I think if I were doing this study, I would discuss the use of cell phones and how people react when they are at the cashier in a store and are talking on the phone. It is interesting to see people when they check out, and to notice if they hang up, tell the caller to hold on, or attempt to maintain a conversation with both people at once. In addition to this idea, I have also witnessed people lately that are on wireless headsets when they talk on the phone. One of the major things I’ve noticed in stores and on campus is that these people often get confused looks when they are speaking on their phones through headset because no one realizes at first that they are on the phone and not speaking to them. I used to work in retail and there were many times I was out on the floor attempting to help customers and I would misunderstand something that was said to a caller through an earpiece.

Mobile health care

When I first realized that topic for this week's blog postings was mobile technology, I was doubtful that I would find much information regarding mobile technology and health care in developing countries of the world. However, upon searching, I found a wealth of information involving the topic, and was surprised to learn about initiatives that are currently being taken in developing countries to help improve health care and spread awareness about proper personal and sexual health. This particular blog will be regarding different areas of Africa and the different ideas about improving health care and the spread of information regarding health via mobile technology. All of the information in this blog post has been gathered from a pamphlet published as part of the Access to Communication Publication Series, and is entitled, "Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs."

The first area of focus of the publication is in South Africa and involved AIDS and HIV education and treatment and the use of mobile technology to improve both. To begin with, I found it shocking that over 41% of South Africa's population is using mobile technology, and over 90% of the country is covered with a mobile network. This piece of information starts to make it clearer how mobile technology can be used to help spread awareness and assist in the treatment of AIDS and HIV. Those patients in Africa that are lucky enough to receive ART (anti-retroviral treatment) for AIDS or HIV often aren't seen on a regular basis or don't maintain their treatment regimens. Most of the time in South Africa, many treatments go to waste because of lack of patient monitoring and follow-up by the doctors. Especially in rural areas, people have to travel long distances to reach a hospital, and it is often unrealistic or unreasonable to expect this to happen. Cell-life is the company responsible for the "Aftercare" program within South Africa and the program utilized mobile technology to help care for patients and improve patient monitoring. There are house calls made by individuals associated with hospitals, and through the use of mobile technology they are able to input large amounts of information about many patients into a database so that they can then be monitored and treated accordingly. This seems like a great way to keep tabs on patients and to improve the effectiveness and regularity of AIDS and HIV treatments in Africa. With such widening mobile technology use in South Africa, it is essential to utilize the technology in any way possible to help improve health care.

Another important initiative discussed in the publication involves the use of mobile technology to connect health care workers in rural areas with larger databases of medical knowledge and resources. As mentioned in the article, in many rural areas, there is one lone doctor or nurse treating thousands of patients without access to the internet, or even a telephone. The Academy for Educational Development- Satellife, a U.S. based company, has begun to equip medical personnel in rural areas of Uganda with PDA's in order to store information and communicate with health care professionals in more populated areas with better access to medical technology and resources. This is important, and often something that people forget about when considering health care in developing countries. As important as it is to keep the patients informed about their treatments and their health, it is so important to ensure that health care professionals in these areas have access to the information and resources necessary to effectively treat thousands of patients, sometimes completely on their own.

The last area of improvement regarding mobile technology in Africa discussed in the publication involves the areas of Kenya and Zambia. This involves making public health information more readily accessible to health care professionals. The non-profit Data-Dyne group produced a program called EpiSurveyor, which allowed health care professionals to gather time-sensitive information about their patients using mobile technology and this particular software. Like the example above, this initiative is so important in helping health care workers to be more thorough in their treatment of sick individuals and also to be more able to track patients and follow up with treatments given.

Medical Inequalities around the world

For today's blog entry, I will be focusing on inequalities that exist in health care and medicine throughout the world. I will be specifically focusing on Iran for this entry, as I've found some interesting information about a relatively small country of the world. However, the problems that exist in Iran are different than those discussed for America in many respects. In the United States, we have such a mix that it is easy to find and discuss the differences that exist between races, genders, and classes and each of those areas varies greatly in different areas of the country. In other nations, from what I have found, most of the disparities exist due to gender and socioeconomic class, and not really due to race or ethnicity.

In order to discuss health disparities and areas that are lacking in proper health care or medical treatments, I'm going to focus on Iran. Iran is a relatively small nation that many people think of as being war-torn and full of conflict, but many never consider what it's like for the natives of Iran to live and work there. According to an article published by the Population Reference Bureau entitled, "Iran Faces Pressure to Provide Jobs, Address Health Disparities," an area of major health disparity in the nation is based on regional differences. Specifically, the article discusses the differences that exist between Tehran, the nation's capital, and Sistan-Baluchestan, a rural town located in Iran. In the comparison drawn, the article points out that rate of death at birth is much higher in Sistan-Baluchestan, and the life expectancy is much lower, as drastic as 9 years. As a reason for this difference, the article references the fact that health care professionals are paid a modest amount of money and there is no incentive for them to move into difficult and rural areas to do their work. I think it's important to point out the clear comparison that can be drawn with America on this topic. The United States has a similar problem with filling health care positions in the most rural communities and many of these differences exist here as well, although not as drastic. However, the United States offers incentives to doctors willing to work in rural areas such as higher pay or help with student loans or tuition in medical school.

Also in Iran, the same article listed above discusses the disparities that exist in reproductive health throughout Iran. Compared to 82% of women who use contraception and family planning in Tehran, only 42% are shown to use it in Sistan-Baluchestan. This disparity could be due to lack of education or lack of resources; the article doesn't make a claim for the cause of the situation. However, it is important to point out that what is seen as a disparity within a nation, can be shown to be related to an entire region. In the Middle East, contraception use and family planning are much lower than even the poorest and most rural regions of Iran. I found this extremely interesting because it makes me wonder the reasons why Iran seems to be much more educated and focused on the problems that come from failing to use contraception or family planning techniques.

In my research about Iran, I came across a study done by Hamid Sepehrdoust, a faculty member at Bu-Ali-Sina University in Hamedan, Iran, called "Eliminating Health Disparities Call to Action in Iran." In the study, he discusses health disparities that exist within Iran as well as in other countries, namely India, and he references many of the same ideas that I discussed above. However, what I found particularly interesting in this study is that in the "Main Findings" section, he offered solutions that Iran should use to decrease or eliminate the health care disparities that exist throughout the country. His first suggestion is to "provide national access to an adequate level of health care facilities for the population." This suggestion in particular made me see the connection between the United States and Iran. Amid all of the discussion and turmoil over the current Health Care Reform bill, I realize that the main point of the bill is to provide equal and adequate health care and insurance to all citizens of the nation. I think it's important to realize the parallels that can be drawn between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the other countries I've discussed throughout the blog. The second suggestion made in the study was to "bring just and equal distribution of financial burden on people with respect to health care expenditures without external effects on their socioeconomic status in life." The third is to "equip providers with permanent touch with knowledge of accountability and cost effective usages of the health care budget." The last and final suggestion made is to provide special attention to groups like women, children, disabled, and the elderly. All of these suggestions would seemingly help the inequalities that exist in Iran and could probably be applied to every country around the world to help alleviate problems that exist in health care and differences that arise due to region, race, class, ethnicity, or gender.

Health Care Disparities in the U.S.

In an area such as medicine, there are disparities that exist among certain groups of people throughout this country as well as other countries and the world as a whole. In order to best understand the disparities that exist around the world, I think it's important to first understand some of the disparities that exist here in the United States. There are incredible differences between those with access to health insurance and exceptional health care and those who can't afford or are denied by health insurance companies. While many people associate these disparities with socioeconomic class, there are disparities that exist due to race, ethnicity, and gender, among many other things.

The first important point to make is to define the differences that exist between races, classes, and genders as far as health and medicine, and to specifically define what is considered a "disparity." A health disparity, as defined in a Fact Sheet published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, is a difference that exists in the prevalence, affects, and death related to certain diseases and health issues. This definition encompasses differences that exist in the treatment and diagnoses that patients receive as a result of varying gender, race, and class. Since there are so many health disparities that exist in the United States, I will be choosing one example that varies with gender, one with race, and one with socioeconomic class in order to highlight the categories of differences that exist.

First, I will focus on the differences that exist in health and medicine because of race and ethnicity. One of the major diseases that seems to differ among people of different races is cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute at NIH, African Americans have the highest rate of and fatalities from cancers, as cited in the fact sheet linked in the above paragraph. The fact sheet tries to outline reasons for the disparities that exist, and for the most part, I think that many of them are accurate and probably contribute a great deal to the differences that exist in cancer among African Americans. Specifically, the fact sheet points to lack of participation in cancer prevention initiatives by minorities, delayed diagnoses of minorities due to lack of insurance, differences in the outcomes of cancer treatment. All of these factors, among others, contribute to the disparities that exist between races, specifically involving African Americans and cancer.

Disparities in medicine and health care also exist due to gender. One of the main areas that professionals see health differences in between men and women is in the area of life expectancy. In some countries around the world, the gap between men and women can be up to 13 years, as it is in Russia according to an article published in the Population Reference Bureau. In the United States, the gap is smaller as it is in many other countries, but in all of the countries mentioned, women have higher life expectancies than men. As I've learned from this article and from other courses that I've had, women are more likely to visit the doctor and have short-term health issues, but men are more likely to die from an illness at an earlier age. It is important to recognize the difference between this disparity and the one listed in the above paragraph. This disparity may be partly due to hormones and biological factors, but much of it exists due to behavioral differences. Women are generally more likely to admit needing to visit the doctor and are also more likely to take medications and stick to treatment plans than men.

The last disparity I will discuss in the United States is based on Socioeconomic class. Rather than focus on a specific illness, I will be discussing the disparities that exist based on class in a more general way. While there are rarely disparities that exist because of low socioeconomic class, but rather that the low socioeconomic class affects the ability of individuals to get proper treatment for diseases that are treatable in most cases. Lack of insurance is a major problem facing healthcare today, and low income families don't have access to insurance and are often unable to visit doctors. When patients don't obtain treatment for mostly harmless illnesses, they can progress into deadly or much more serious diseases that are then even more difficult and expensive to treat.

In the next blog post, I will focus on health and medical treatment differences that exist based on race, gender, age, and class in other nations of the world.

Health care and education in India

In this blog entry, I have chosen to focus on the education related to technology and health care in India. India is a large, extremely overpopulated country, supporting over 16% of the world’s population. With the size of the country and the disparities that exist in the health care in India, it is interesting to view how a country handles providing health care to so many people if they do so at all. India is a major world power, and has extremely advanced technology, but their health care is often lacking and they are often unable to provide adequate health care to their billions of citizens. This entry will look at a few articles displaying how education and technology have helped certain areas of medicine and health care improve in India overall.
Although people don’t generally think of India as having a high rate of infection with AIDS, in 2005 reports, there were 5.2 to 5.7 million people infected with the HIV virus according to a BBC news article. Also featured in that article is the extreme drop that has occurred in that figure since 2005. According to BBC News, the figure has been cut almost in half, and is currently closer to 3 million, which it recognizes is still an extremely large figure. According to a press release by UNAIDS, the sharp drop in the number of citizens affected by HIV is a direct result of the Indian government expanding and improving it’s surveillance of the disease. The press release also cites the fact that education and better understanding of the disease helps the government to better monitor and track those affected by the virus. In addition to a better understanding, technology has infiltrated the government’s efforts to help better monitor HIV and AIDS, and they are now using more sophisticated methods of disease detection, including regular blood tests of those at high risk for the virus. The fight against AIDS in India gives us a glimpse into the effects that adequate education and improved technology can have on so many individuals in such a largely populated country.
While education of the government and health care professionals is important, education of the public is also crucial to maintaining health care in a nation with so many inhabitants. By educating the public about health care and disease prevention and care, the number of people needing to visit the area hospitals would presumably decrease and the number of people suffering from various ailments would also decrease due to more awareness of the causes. Two doctors in India, Dr. Aniruddha and Dr. Anjali Malpani, realized the need for public education about health care, and started an organization called HELP (Health Education Library for People), a resource center now housing over 11,000 books on disease and health, along with many other forms of information including pamphlets and magazines. More information about the resource center can be found by following this link: . The doctors realized that by educating the public, many serious medical problems could be prevented before becoming so serious a problem that patients would require intensive medical care that many facilities in India may not be able to offer. The resource center is located online, and this is a clear display of how technology enters into the field of medicine and affects the education that the public receives about their own personal health care.
Another aspect of education and technology in medicine that is important to understand, is the education and training of health care professionals in India, particularly the nations physicians. While I won’t delve into the complexities of the curriculum in medical colleges in India, I will point to a few problems discussed in an editorial by Rita Sood and BV Adkoli entitled, “Medical Education in India- Problems and Prospects.” Namely, the article discusses the lack of clinical experience that students gain while studying in an Indian medical school. Medical schools in India often concentrate solely on medical science, and assume that students will be able to use that knowledge to practice successfully in a clinical setting. However, as this article points out, that is not something that one can assume of every student. In addition, the lack of updated technology in medical teaching units makes it difficult for teachers to deliver the information and clinical applications in ways that are most beneficial to the students. Updating the technology available to students and teachers in medical schools throughout India would help physicians trained at those hospitals to finish with a better understanding of medicine as a practice rather than just a science.
While India is not one of the countries that many people first think of related to disparities in health care, such a large population makes it difficult for the country to provide adequate health care and education to its people. In future posts, I will come back to India as well as Africa and other areas of the world, and delve into other aspects of health care and technology in these areas so that by the end of the semester, each of us has a better understanding of the state of health care and it’s use of technology around the globe.

Medical Education in Africa

A major part of health care in other countries involves educating the native people about medical options and proper personal care. In addition to increased medical technology being used in the hospitals and health care facilities, technology is being utilized to educate people and to communicate about health care more effectively to the native people. This blog entry will focus on Africa in particular and the technology used in educating people about health care throughout the continent. In future blog entries, I will focus on the technology used to educate people about health care in other areas of the world so that a clear comparison can be made between various nations around the globe.

In a recent article featured in the Sunday Independent, a daily Nigerian newspaper, the use of 3G technology by Qualcomm is featured as being used for health care education throughout Africa. In the article by Emma Okonji, the project to use 3G coverage to assist in the distribution and monitoring of antiretroviral drugs for AIDS, which is prevalent in Africa, is discussed. Qualcomm began the project as a result of the current system used to monitor the use and circulation of antiretroviral drugs, as a steady supply of the drugs is essential for the survival of those needing the therapy. Prior to this initiative, manual record-keeping was used to keep track of the drug therapies utilized, and this system uses valuable time that could be spent helping to care for patients. In order to help reduce the time spent keeping manual records, Qualcomm is working to provide the centers for antiretroviral treatments with computers and wireless broadband connectivity. In addition to providing technology to these centers, Qualcomm is working to educate the people of Africa on how to use the equipment for improve efficiency. It is crucial for them to educate the native people on how to best make use of the equipment so that the initiative will actually help to improve quality of health care of those with AIDS in the long term. Since the project was piloted in 2005, it has grown to a global initiative to improve health care and communication throughout the world and could spread to help monitor the use of all pharmaceutical drugs in Africa and other nations around the globe. In the event that you would like to read more about this particular initiative, the article can be found by following this link:

In another widespread effort to improve the health care and education related to health care in Africa was initiated by GE. Their $20 million project, started in 2004, donated millions of dollars worth of equipment to the Korie Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, where doctors from all of Africa are trained before spreading throughout the continent to provide health care in some of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. This hospital was chosen because it is a teaching hospital that covers most of Africa and would therefore be able to have far-reaching effects throughout the continent. Among the many donations made to the hospital were: portable ultrasound machines, x-rays, anesthesiology equipment, and monitors. Also, being the major electricity company that it is, GE was able to provide power generation and refrigeration equipment to the hospital. While GE did not work to educate people directly through their initiative, they provided equipment to a major teaching hospital in Ghana to help educate doctors who serve throughout Africa in order to better the quality of health care. The technology used throughout Africa in medical facilities was improved because of the use of the technology donated in teaching hospitals like the one in Ghana. Education of the continent’s doctors has allowed for the spread of medical technology throughout Ghana and the other nations of Africa, and has improved the quality of health care throughout the continent.

Another example of the spread of technology and education in Africa with regards to medicine is related to the use of mobile telecommunications to help alleviate Africa’s healthcare challenges. In an article featured in a magazine called, This is Africa, mobile telecommunication technology is discussed in relation to its influence on medicine in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to the beginning of many initiatives to improve health care in Africa in recent years, over 50% of the population didn’t have regular access to a modern healthcare facility. The mobile telecommunications initiative focuses on the ability of mobile technology to bridge geographical gaps that are created in Africa. The projects spotlight the ability of mobile telecommunications to help with patient monitoring, disease tracking, education and awareness, and healthcare worker training. At the present time, this initiative is in progress, and nothing has been proven effective. However, it seems intuitive that the initiative will help to educate people about proper healthcare and will help to allow those living in sub-Saharan Africa to have access to better medical care and technology. The article discussing the mobile telecommunications technology initiative can be found by following this link:

Education is a major factor in improving the health care and use of medical technology throughout Africa, and the several initiatives currently taking place are helping to educate both healthcare professionals as well as patients themselves in order to improve the quality of healthcare available. In the next blog entry, I will delve into medical technology and education related to health care in another area of the world so that a clear comparison can be made between Africa and other areas of the globe.

Health Care around the World

In order to begin discussing the technology used in medicine around the world, we must have some basic knowledge of the health care systems in other countries. While we all know what health care is like where we live in the D.C. Metropolitan area, it is most likely true that many of us couldn't say much about the health care available in more rural areas of the country, or in areas like the border between Texas and Mexico. So if we can't even speak about health care in every part of our own country, what can most of us possibly know about medicine elsewhere, especially in some areas of the world seldom traveled by Americans? This blog will help to explore the technologies used in health care around the world and throughout the United States in the more remote areas. However, in order to have a strong base of knowledge, I will discuss the state of health care in other countries right now.

In order to first discuss the idea of health care and medicine in other countries, I think it is crucial to discuss some of the misconceptions that people have about the medical systems that exist under different types of government from our own. While researching myths commonly held about health care in other countries, I came across an article written by T.R. Reid and featured in the Washington Post in August of 2009. His article explored some of the more common beliefs held about the structure of health care in places other than the United States. One of the myths that he explores is that all medicine is socialized around the world, but he points out that this is untrue and that in many countries, including Japan and Switzerland, there are private insurance companies as well as private health professionals and clinics. While this is obviously not discussing a developing country, it is important to discuss health care and medical technology around the world instead of only focusing on places that tend to draw a lot of negative attention like Africa or India. Throughout this blog, I will focus on various countries, ranging from wealthy ones like Switzerland to developing areas such as Kenya and Ghana.

A second, and even more important myth discussed in T.R. Reid's article is that "cost controls stifle innovation." However, while many may think that more limited health care spending hinders the production and use of new and innovative techniques and technology, that is contrary to the facts. For example, as T.R. Reid points out, many of the techniques used today in the United States came from places like France or England. It is crucial to remember before beginning to read this blog that countries besides the United States are advanced in the health care field, and many are gaining strength with each passing year.

In order to understand the current health situations existing around the world, it's important to hear some current information about a place considered much further behind in technology in general, especially in medicine. On a travel website called the "Africa Guide," there is a section detailing the various types of illnesses that are frequently encountered throughout Africa. These diseases and illnesses include: AIDS, Bilharzia (a parasite in the water), Cholera, Amoebic Dysentary, Hepatitis, Meningitis, and Polio, among others. Simply from looking at this list, one can clearly see that the areas in Africa where these types of diseases are common must be lacking in their medical technology and health care. Diseases like Polio and Cholera have not been a problem in the United States for at least 50-100 years. As I post more entries, I will focus on specific types of medical technological tools that are used in Africa related to the types of tools and technologies used in the United States.

Hopefully this blog entry allows you to better understand the current situations in health care in a few different parts of the world, and your knowledge, as well as my own, will be expanded throughout the semester as I focus specifically on countries and their use of medical technology and quality of health care. This entry should provide some strong background knowledge of health care, and I will discuss technological tools in more depth as the semester goes on.

Welcome to Medical Technology without Borders! Throughout my undergraduate career, I've always found myself particularly interested in health care, and the differences that exist in health care around the world. As a potential future Peace Corps volunteer, I also have a strong interest in the development of third world countries and the technologies that are slowly infiltrating the most remote corners of the globe. Throughout the semester, I plan to explore medicine in countries around the world, and contrast them with medicine in the United States. I will discuss how various medical technologies, including even simple things like X-Rays, have found their way into countries around the world that previously had no access to such advanced medical technology.

When choosing the topic for this blog, I knew that I wanted to include medicine in some way, and I was reminded of a book that I recently read entitled "Better" by Dr. Atul Gawande. In his book, Dr. Gawande describes what it was like for him, a United States trained physician, to enter into India and see the extreme differences in health care. He described the one decent hospital within many miles of the town he was visiting, and how people struggled to find adequate health care on a daily basis for problems much more serious than the common cold that Americans often visit the doctor about. The way that Dr. Gawande described the stark contrasts between Western medicine and medicine in a developing country such as India peaked my interest, and I am interested to find out more about medicine in other areas, including Africa and South America. I will look for any information available about the use of medical technology in countries around the world.

As I'm beginning this blog, my current knowledge of medicine around the globe is limited, and I look forward to expanding my horizons throughout the semester. Currently, I feel that America is incredibly advanced in medical technology compared to many countries around the world with the exception of China and much of Europe. However, as I said, I don't actually know many details about health care in other areas of the world, so I will be learning about the topic as much as the readers of this blog will. I look forward to exploring this topic further and being able to speak eloquently about the use of technology in medicine throughout the world. I hope you enjoy learning about my topic, and I look forward to sharing the information I find with each of you.