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by Gary Selnow
When orthopedic surgeon Dr. Juaquin Corvera diagnoses a patient and performs the necessary surgery, his long experience generally enables him to handle the procedures deftly. So, over the years his training and firsthand experience have served him and his patients well. The practice of good medicine, however, requires frequent updates on scientific advances taking place in hospitals and medical schools around the world, and that’s where Dr. Corvera is at a disadvantage. Experience is priceless, but so, too, is tapping the research and collective wisdom of global medical communities.
 Doctors at the Hospital La Unión near San Miguel, El Salvador, like those at most rural hospitals in Central America, operate without medical libraries, outside consultants or opportunities for continuing medical education. Journals, texts, and training programs readily obtainable in the West are unavailable at many rural hospitals and clinics in Central America, and, while the rich exchange of information is standard in high-income regions, it is all but absent in this part of the world. (Watch a brief video of Hospital La Unión)
In early June, WiRED expanded its program to outfit rural hospitals in Central America by installing three Medical Information Centers (MICs) in Nicaragua and one each in Honduras and El Salvador. The Internet-connected MICs provide the critical links between doctors in rural areas and their colleagues around the world. Further, the MICs provide medical libraries and special continuing medical education programs for doctors and nurses, therapists, and other medical professionals.
Ribbon cuttings for MICs in Central America are always lively events, and the ceremonies for these five facilities were no different. The opening in Pantasma, Nicaragua (Centro de Salud Adelina Ortega) brought out the town, including several troupes of young dancers who celebrated the event. Dancers also marked the opening of the center in Somoto, Nicaragua at the Juan Antonio Brenes Palacios Hospital.
No ceremony in Central America is complete without a good round of speech-making. Doctors, hospital administrators, mayors, health officials, and Rotary Club members made speeches in which they offered their thoughts and their thanks for these information portals. People sang their national anthems, offered prayers, and sampled the training programs on the new computers.
 WiRED provided the computers for each facility, and, perhaps more important, WiRED connected these computers to medical databases and online training courses. The International Telemedicine Network (ITN) portal, which WiRED coordinates, now provides access to a large collection of free health care resources. During the next year, the ITN will add continuing medical education modules that will enable doctors in developing countries to update their knowledge on the latest developments. Most of the courses will be by request: Doctors ask for updates on particular illnesses or conditions, and WiRED helps assemble the courses through its alliances with U.S.-based medical schools and teaching hospitals.
 Funding for the current round of MICs in Central America came from small donors, whose average contribution was less than $100. Donations collected for two years allowed WiRED to pay for the computers and will fund a small portion of the course preparations. Santiago Castellon, WiRED’s volunteer manager in Nicaragua, coordinated the MIC installations and events for this year’s program, as he has for all past programs in the region.
Locations of the New Medical Information Centers
- Nicaragua
- Pantasma—Centro de Salud Adelina Ortega
- Jalapa—Hospital Pastor Jimenez
- Somoto—Hospital Juan Antonio Brenes
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- Honduras
- Nacaome—Centro de Salud Constantino Silva
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- El Salvador
- La Unión—Hospital La Unión
Excerpt from an earlier speech at a MIC ribbon cutting ceremony in Leon, Nicaragua.
"We build today on a medical education system that started 3,000 years ago, and so we stand on the shoulders of many people who, over the years, have worked to improve human health. Health care today is a cooperative effort involving many people: researchers, teachers, technicians, administrators, families, and, of course, doctors and nurses.
Medicine is a team effort. Improving health is not an isolated undertaking but a global partnership. These computers remind us of that as they help join the many players into a team. All of us here in Leon connect with people on every continent in objectives shared by all people: improve human health and extend human life.
Cutting this ribbon today is another symbol that we are part of a united effort. In a world pained and broken by war, threats and fear, we should be proud that we are participating in a process that, while addressing the health of the human body, reflects the strengths of the human spirit. This Leon Center is not just about computers, it is a celebration of something much larger—it is a recognition that we are a small part of a large process that spans centuries and continents. Cutting this ribbon reminds us that in a world politically divided, our gathering represents cooperation and the unity of people everywhere."
— Gary Selnow
Editing by Kate Mayer and Allison Kozicharow, layout by Brian Colombe.
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