Teaching and learning aspects of remote medical consultations

In 1988, Norwegian Telecom Research (NTR), in co-operation with the University Hospital of Tromsø (UHT), started a project on telemedicine in North Norway. North Norway is characterised by sparsely populated communities spread over vast distances. Furthermore, the increase in complexity and amount of medical knowledge has caused a demand for specialisation within the health services. As a consequence there is a limited number of qualified personnel within certain sectors of the health services, especially in remote areas. An objective of the project is to use telemedicine to provide equal health care services to each individual in Norway, regardless of geography or economic variation in the population.