Regional
Healthcare Technologies - Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance
Conference
On
behalf of the organising committee, it is my pleasure to invite
you to join us in Geelong from November 14 to 18, 2004 for the
Engineering and Physical Sciences in Medicine Conference, EPSM
2004.
This
year’s meeting is a joint conference of the Australasian
College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine, the
Engineers Australia College of Biomedical Engineers, and the Society
for Medical and Biological Engineering of Victoria. Introduced
in 1984, as Engineering and Physics in the Life Sciences, this
annual conference is a forum for discussion of all aspects of
research, treatment and management in the fields of Biomedical
Engineering and Medical Physics.
The
theme for EPSM 2004 is "Regional Healthcare Technologies
- Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance". This provides us with
an opportunity to participate in the current debate concerning
the appropriate type and expense of health care in regional, rural
and remote areas; and what the optimal solution to providing that
health care should be. This covers issues such as provision of
fundamental medical services in remote and impoverished communities,
and access to specialist services in regional centres. You are
invited to join the discussion. How can we best use applied technology
to address the issue of remoteness - both physical and in funding?
Special
topics of interest include:
Telecommunications
Protocols and Infrastructure. What can we achieve with telecommunications
now and what is the future potential?
Telehealth.
Progress in technology and usage. Does ‘Dr by IT’
have successful clinical outcomes?
Appropriate Technologies (PET vs Potable water). Stretching the
budget to meet needs effectively. Is it better to provide one
community with one high-end scanner when several communities could
each use basic services? Homecare Technologies. Providing quality
medical services outside the hospital environment.
Equality or Quality or e-Quality. Is "Equality of services
everywhere” necessarily providing a Quality service? What
is the role of technology in improving the Quality of services
everywhere?
We
invite anyone who has played a role in supporting medicine in
regional, rural and remote areas to present a paper based on your
experiences. Let's explore the relationship between metropolitan
hospitals and their regional counterparts. Let's see the innovations
devised to deal with shortfalls in funding and resources. Let's
get a closer look at the work of international bodies and aid
agencies. Let's review the uses of distance communication in the
clinic and in education. Of course, this conference is an exhibition
of all aspects of our work. As well as presentations addressing
the theme, the usual technical and scientific presentations of
recently performed work and innovations in medical physics and
engineering are sought. We'd love to see examples of your recent
technical work, research and innovations.
Accepted
abstracts for oral and poster presentations, and short papers
(refereed) will be printed in Australasian Physical and Engineering
Sciences in Medicine.
In
addition to this you will have the opportunity to network with
colleagues and view new products at the trade exhibition in the
pleasant surrounds of the Deakin University Waterfront Campus.
We
look forward to welcoming you to EPSM 2004 and Geelong, Victoria.
Rhonda Brown
Convenor
on behalf of the Organising Committee
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