home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Xref: sparky sci.med:20866 misc.education:4258 alt.education.distance:411 soc.college:4804
- Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.education,alt.education.distance,soc.college
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uunet.ca!geac!r-node!ndallen
- From: ndallen@r-node.gts.org (Nigel Allen)
- Subject: Distance-Learning Network to Bring Medical Education to Psychiatric Hospitals
- Message-ID: <1992Nov11.233218.8755@r-node.gts.org>
- Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
- Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 23:32:18 GMT
- Lines: 56
-
- Here is a press release from PSYCHNET.
-
- Distance-Learning Network to Bring Medical Education to Psychiatric
- Hospitals
- To: National Desk, Medical Writer
- Contact: Frank Skinner, 703-218-5335, of Interactive Medical
- Networks; or Stephen W.T. O'Keeffe, 703-734-1880,
- of KSK Communications Ltd.
-
- FAIRFAX, Va., Nov. 11 -- Interactive Medical Networks (IMN),
- an ACCME accredited provider of continuing Medical
- Education (CME) and a subsidiary of Westcott Communications Inc.,
- today announced PSYCHNET, a highly focused, distance-learning
- educational support network for state psychiatric institutions and
- their medical staffs.
- Featuring nationally recognized experts, a series of 90-minute
- interactive programs will allow psychiatric hospitals to receive
- valuable education for their medical staffs. The state-of-the-art
- satellite television network will furnish high-quality CME without
- burden to today's financially stretched state psychiatric hospitals.
- Participating institutions will receive PSYCHNET at no charge.
- Funding is provided through educational grants from the
- pharmaceutical industry. Initial 1993 sponsors include McNeil
- Pharmaceutical and Abbott Laboratories.
- As a remote-learning service, PSYCHNET will transmit educational
- programming from Westcott's broadcast studio in Dallas directly into
- 150 psychiatric institutions and 800 community hospitals across the
- country.
- The network will deliver monthly CME programs in 1993, including
- sessions on depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. The
- first program will address schizophrenia, with an emphasis on relapse
- prevention, as part of a three-part series exploring clinical,
- economic, and family perspectives of depot therapy.
- Each program will last approximately 90 minutes, which includes 30
- minutes for participants' questions and answers. Featuring case
- studies and breaking medical information, the sessions will allow
- attendees around the country to consult the expert faculty and
- interact with their peers via an 800 line. All required hardware for
- reception, including satellite dish and monitor equipment, will be
- furnished without charge to participating institutions.
- "IMN is aware of the important role that CME plays in improving
- the level of psychiatric care," said Thomas F. Zimmerman, Ph.D.,
- president of IMN. "However, the increasing budgetary and time
- pressures on today's state institutions limit physicians' access to
- traditional travel-dependent education resources. PSYCHNET's goal is
- simply to connect those with the best information to those with the
- greatest need for that information. By enabling practitioners to
- stay abreast of the latest developments, the network will strive to
- improve the quality of care in America's psychiatric institutions."
- The vision of IMN is the combination of quality education and
- advanced communications technology. IMN is a division of Westcott
- Communications Inc., Carrollton, Texas, the nation's largest provider
- of television-delivered professional education. Westcott
- Communications operates 10 narrowcast networks serving 15,000
- subscribers across the United States.
- -30-
-