Doctors – the view is great from in here!

Since the earliest days of medicine, doctors have conferred with colleagues about clinical matters, the practice of medicine and what’s on their minds.

Due to the collegiate nature of medicine, doctors have always felt comfortable discussing matters with their fellow doctors that they may not discuss with other people.

The practice of medicine has evolved over the last 50 years or so. This has seen the decline of solo practices and the rise of group practices. It has further facilitated discussions between doctors on matters relevant to them.

More recently, the advent of educational meetings has provided another forum in which doctors can get together to discuss ideas freely and feel safe in the knowledge that their views will go no further than their colleagues.

The 21st century has seen the web become a key forum for people to exchange ideas and network with one another. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have become very popular in both the business community and the general public. Doctors have tended to stay away from these sites for a number of reasons. Firstly, doctors may not feel comfortable discussing matters in public forums. Doctors may also be concerned that people who befriend them on Facebook may be after cheap medical advice.

Nevertheless, these social networking sites have shown that many people do like to share ideas with others who may live across the country, or even on the far side of the world. This human need to interact also applies to doctors, but until now there has not been a safe virtual environment for them to do this in.

The arrival of Visum is therefore a great event for doctors in Australia. Visum is a secure internet site in which doctors can exchange ideas, ask questions and discuss issues with their colleagues. The site is fully secure and only doctors can join Visum. Essentially, this replicates the collegiate nature of the educational or practice meeting on the web so that you can network with colleagues near and far. The capacity to pose questions about cases, to put forward discussion ideas, or just sound off matters that are important to you is available through Visum.

Similar sites have been successful overseas, particularly in the United States. The arrival of Visum will allow you to both seek information and contribute information. It will allow the pooling of expertise and sharing of knowledge. It will allow for two-way communication between you and your colleagues, from your own to different disciplines, with those who might practice close to you and those who are far away.

The capacity to network on a global scale has been popular in business and the community. So far Australian doctors have not been able to take advantage of such networking. Visum will allow you to experience the benefits of information exchange and collegiate discussion through this 21st century wonder of the World Wide Web.

I look forward to connecting with you on Visum!

(Source: Joe Kosterich: November 2009)