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Press Room
For information, please contact: June 28, 2002 BeST Online wins "Project of the Year" and "Best Professional Educational Project - Secondary Care" at the Inaugural Pharmaceutical Industry Awards DUBLIN, IRELAND - IntuMed Ltd (www.intumed.com) was the winner of two awards at the Inaugural Pharmaceutical Industry Awards presented in Dublin on Friday. BeST Online, IntuMed's online surgical training programme, won the overall award of "Project of the Year" with the judges unanimously declaring it the winner from among the thirty-nine projects submitted. BeST Online also won best project in the category "Best Professional Educational Project - Secondary Care". The Inaugural Pharmaceutical Industry Awards celebrate the innovation and creative technologies used in the healthcare industry for professional and patient education projects. Among the other entrants were pharmaceutical companies, PR agencies, as well as hospital community and patient care projects. There were thirty-nine entries submitted across seven categories, including Project of the Year. The companies were in competition for the most creative, innovative, informative, relevant and collaborative project. A panel of six judges reviewed all submitted entries to determine a winner for each category. Commenting on the awards Dr Terry McWade CEO of IntuMed said; "These awards recognise the innovation and collaboration which characterise BeST. Creating the world's first online surgical training programme was always going to be a challenge given the size of the effort required. Over 200 surgeons and scientists developed the content which was then transformed into the interactive, multimedia programme by the editorial boards of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Harvard Medical International. The boards were supported throughout the process by the technology and e-learning expertise of Intuition. BeST Online is a great example of what can be achieved when the very best people in their respective fields work together to realise a shared vision. The awards are a tribute to all of these people." BeST received high praise from the judges. Their comments included, "Superb concept to address identified need," and "great collaboration…innovative online project." Regarding the Project of the Year Award the judges said, "IntuMed was selected as unanimous winner for their project 'BeST Online'. This was an outstanding entry for the 2002 Awards." BeST, or Basic electronic Surgical Training, is the world's first comprehensive
online programme in basic surgical training. It is a ground-breaking
product that services the entire needs of trainee and resident surgeons
and also offers a superb reference and continuing education resource. Using the latest e-learning technologies and an award-winning learning
science, BeST delivers a user-focused, flexible e-learning experience,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trainees benefit from professionally
moderated core content from RCSI and HMI, visual and interactive learning,
realistic case studies, challenging simulations, tests and personalized
feedback. BeST Online, launched in June 2001, has already won two major awards,
the USDLA Award for Excellence in Distance Learning for Healthcare and
Telemedicine and the International EMMA Award for excellence in digital
media content creation in the Online Training Category. BeST Resident,
the version of the programme targeted at the US, was launched in Spring
2002. BeST Online is developed by IntuMed, the medical e-learning joint venture between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Harvard Medical International (HMI) and e-learning developer, Intuition
About Harvard Medical International (HMI) About Intuition April 1, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IntuMed launches BeST RESIDENT in the USA Boston, MA, New York, NY, Dublin, Ireland - Each year fewer medical students in the US choose to become surgeons because of the severe lifestyle sacrifices required of surgical residents and by the profession. To help improve the daily lives of surgical residents and stem a growing crisis in surgical education, Harvard Medical International (HMI), the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and Intuition, a leading e-learning company, have together created the first international comprehensive online surgical training program. BeST Resident (www.intumed.com) will be launched in the United States this week at Surgical Education Week, the joint annual meeting of the Association for Surgical Education and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery in Baltimore April 1-6th. Surgical residency applications have declined significantly in recent years: in this year's match results, released March 21st, the number of US medical graduates who matched surgical residencies dropped from 821 last year to 782. This is because of the demands of surgical residencies - demands that can leave young physicians overworked, overwhelmed and without time for personal lives or in-depth study, says William Silen, MD, Johnson & Johnson Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School. When there is time between cases, "contemplative reading and diagnostic problem-solving are replaced with a furtive search of the Internet while waiting for a case to start in the operating room," he says. "This program will address the diminishing time available to residents for in-depth study," says Silen," who voiced his concerns about the impending crisis in a recent editorial published by the American College of Surgeons. "BeST Resident provides an educational tool residents need to learn about surgery in an easily accessible manner and compensates for the diminished direct teaching by attending physicians," he adds. Silen also advocates the restructuring of on-call schedules, a return to clinical rounds and modifying caseloads to make surgery more attractive to young doctors. Reviewed and approved by nearly 200 Harvard Medical School and RCSI
faculty and designed specifically for the web, BeST Resident contains
everything first year residents need to know to look after their patients
and prepare for the in-service exams. Engaging and interactive and accessible
anytime, any place, BeST Resident gives real-time availability and immediacy
to textbook-depth and journal-breadth content using all the potential
of multimedia and the web. "The concept is great, and for somebody like me who benefits from learning by way of answering questions, it is a good study tool. The visuals are great and much better at keeping me awake than the paper cuts textbooks give me," says Dr Eric Benoit, a surgical resident from Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. "This Internet delivered curriculum provides surgical residents/trainees with a virtual university of surgical learning content, and furthermore is a tremendous support for surgical faculty," says Michael Horgan, Deputy Chief Executive of RCSI. "They can more easily keep updated on each resident's progress and can do so in a way that is convenient for them as well as for the student surgeon." From a broader perspective, HMI leaders see this type of curriculum as leveling the global playing field in medicine. "The Internet is really a wonderful educational tool because it overcomes distance to bring world-class education to the broadest possible audience," says Robert Crone, MD, president and CEO of Harvard Medical International. "Over time, this online training technique could significantly help to lessen differences in medical standards that currently exist between countries and make it easier for health professionals to access the same quality of education in different parts of the world." Launched in Ireland last - summer, BeST Resident was reviewed and revised by Harvard faculty to meet the American in-service exam requirements. Last year, BeST won the International EMMA award for Excellence in Digital Media Content Creation in the Online Training Category, and another prestigious award, the United States Distance Learning Association for Excellence in Distance Learning for 2001. To try out BeST Resident, go to IntuMed's website at www.intumed.com and click on the Virtual Tour. Register for a product demo at http://bestres.intumed.com/BeSTus_app/best/demoreg.html
For more information: HMI Victoria Holliday, B.M. B.Ch., Program Director, Harvard Medical International
Harvard Medical International Tel: +1 617 535 6400 For Release June 22, 2001 IntuMed Introduces the World's First Online
Surgical Training Program Dublin, Ireland -- IntuMed, the medical e-learning joint venture between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Harvard Medical International (HMI) and e-learning developer, Intuition, launches the live version of the world's first online surgical training product today. BeST, or Basic electronic Surgical Training, is a fully intergated e-learning program providing basic surgical training and professional exam preparation. BeST, or electronic Basic Surgical Training, provides surgical trainees, who are already qualified as doctors, with an interactive, virtual university via the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It also offers surgeons a superior reference and continuing education resource available on the Internet from anywhere in the world. Using the latest e-learning technology, a proven learning science and structured content based on approved basic surgical training syllabus, BeST is a comprehensive program designed to maximise learning potential, critical thinking and skills development. BeST has 18 modules containing 93 tutorials on Perioperative Care, Postoperative Management, Surgical Technique & Technology, Surgical Sepsis and Its Prevention, Trauma, Neoplasia, Central Nervous System, Locomotor System, Respiratory System, Cardiovascular System, Abdomen, Gastrointestinal Tract, Genitourinary System, Head and Neck Surgery, Breast & Endocrine Glands, Paediatric Disorders, Blood & Lymphatic Systems and Management & Legal Issues. In addition, BeST has ten Back to Basics guides to anatomy, physiology, pathology, investigations and surgical techniques that every trainee surgeon needs to know. According to Michael Horgan, Deputy Chief Executive, RCSI, "BeST breaks the physical boundaries of education. In addition to in-hospital training and practical surgical skill courses, doctors can now gain access to a structured and tutored training program, without leaving the hospital to which they are posted". BeST has 5,000 web pages of information, training, tutorials and interaction, developed by over 100 surgical and medical contributors. It is regularly updated by the BeST editorial board to ensure content accuracy and relevance. BeST is available for purchase by credit card on IntuMed's secure online website, www.intumed.com. BeST costs 2,000 Euros per user for a one-year license. This includes 24/7 access to all modules, Back to Basics guides, the RCSI library, e-mail a tutor support and a RCSI moderated online discussion room. From now until September 30, 2001, BeST is available at a special 20% discount. Credit cards are accepted for full and monthly payments in different currencies. For Immediate Release BeST Wins the USDLA Award Dublin, Ireland -- IntuMed, the medical e-learning joint venture between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Harvard Medical International and e-learning developer, Intuition, was recently awarded a 2001 Excellence in Distance Learning Award by the United States Distance Learning Association. The USDLA awards acknowledge major accomplishments in distance learning and highlight professionals and organizations that have achieved excellence in distance learning programming. The awards were presented at the 2001 e-Learning Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C., the premier conference and exposition for the distance learning industry. IntuMed won the Excellence in Distance Learning Award in the Healthcare and Telemedicine category for BeST. BeST, or Basic electronic Surgical Training, provides students with a complete interactive and fully integrated educational program in basic surgery. It has the distinction of being the world's first online surgical training program that breaks the physical boundaries of education to enable trainee surgeons, wherever they are, to benefit from top-quality educational content. The program employs the latest e-learning technology to deliver a user-focused flexible learning experience, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. David Harrison, Chief Executive of Intuition stated, "This is a tremendous achievement for IntuMed. We have developed a training program based on the principle that online learning should stimulate as well educate, interest as well as inform. This USDLA award recognizes the excellence of our design, programming and learning science, as well as the high standard of our content." Dr. Robert Crone, President and CEO of Harvard Medical International concurred, "BeST is a very flexible, high-quality, educational tool that will be of great value to surgeons and surgical departments around the world." BeST was selected from 89 nominees submitted to the USDLA. Other winners included NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and the Defense Acquisition University in Virginia. About USDLA For Immediate Release Harvard Medical International, the Royal College
of Surgeons in Ireland, and Intuition Partner to form IntuMed
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