Physicians and Medicine in the Twenty-first Century

The Internet is a conglomerate of computer networks that encircles the world. As of a few years ago there were upwards of 50,000 networks with about 10 million computers serving approximately 150 million users. The Internet or “information superhighway” is a spin-off from a project that was initiated in 1969 linking the computers of the government's military research centers to protect data in the event of a nuclear attack.

The public can access the Internet directly through universities, scientific organizations, and public libraries. The Internet is popular and busy because, for the most part, it is basically free. Your university or medical school is most likely to have an account and be online.

Using your own home computer you need a modem to access the Internet over your phone line and a communications program to communicate with the computer at the other end of the line. Using a university account has a major disadvantage for it requires technical skill to work through a maze without the help of a customer service department. Time has to be invested to learn how to proceed and find what you are looking for; nevertheless, there is a substantial savings using a university account rather than a commercial one.

On the other hand, if you feel overwhelmed by such chores you have the option of gaining Internet access through a commercial company (such as America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy, etc.). You may also use an ISP (Internet Service Provider), which is a company that provides direct access to the Internet for a low monthly fee. It is important to learn which features you will have access to and how much it will cost. This should be weighed against your specific needs and budget limitations. Once you have adjusted to the Internet and find it essential, you may decide to move over to a university account and drastically lower your costs.

While the Internet is expanding, its basic types of services are:

1. E-Mail. With this system, you prepare a communication using a text editor, and then send it to an e-mail address, which is in the form of a code, containing the symbol @. To the left of the symbol is the recipient's name or assigned code number, and on the right are letters and numbers separated by dots. These serve to identify the recipient's department and institution (“domains”). The last three letters indicate the type of institution (such as educational, edu.; commercial, com.; governmental, gov., etc.) (A two-letter overseas code may be used instead of the three-letter institutional code when appropriate.)
    Dialing your Internet account via a local phone number permits you to send your message locally, cross-country, or overseas, at no extra cost. It should be noted that with e-mail you lose the privacy provided by the postal service, but you gain in speed and delivery reliability.
2. Internet “chat.” This is similar to e-mail, but involves “talking” to the recipient by typing messages back and forth. It provides instant access and prompt response but requires some degree of rapid typing skill. Internet books provide pointers on “computer-etiquette.”
3. Projecting. There are networks that enable you to link up with “news-groups” and provide access to mailing lists of computerized meetings.
    After mastering e-mail and news-groups technique, the basis has been set to move out and access computers located in distant places with the assistance of available commercial services, such as Gopher, Tel-net, ftp (file transfer protocol), etc.

For the medical student, the Internet provides a means for a break from the isolation of study and tension of exams and rounds. It allows one to communicate with old or new friends by e-mail or “chatting.”

The Internet provides students with the ability to access numerous medical information sites and, as computer skills improve, more medical students and physicians will take advantage of it and benefit from it.