"This is a big step for the future of our medical school and for our physicians and students, who will, through these resources, have easier and more rapid access to medical information."

 

 

 

 

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WiRED Installs Two Medical Information Centers in Bosnia
by Sheila Riley

 

WiRED's reach into eastern Europe continues with the October launch of two more Medical Information Centers in Bosnia.

 

The latest MICs are expected to provide a wealth of critical information to medical students and professionals in Banja Luka and Mostar. Both cities are still recovering from the effects of Bosnia's brutal three-year civil war.

 

Mostar

Mostar, in southern Bosnia between the mountains of Herzegovina, is a tourist center with a population estimated at 127,000. It developed as a regional trading center because of its location on the Neretva River. The city’s most famous landmark is the single-span stone Old Bridge, first erected in the sixteenth century. The bridge was destroyed in 1993 by tank fire, but it has been rebuilt using many of the original stones.

 
Banja Luka

Banja Luka, in northwest Bosnia on the river Vrbas, is a government seat and financial center. Although much of the city is modern, its history dates to the Middle Ages, and it boasts large ancient stone fortress ruins. The second-largest city in Bosnia-Herzegovina after Sarajevo, Banja Luka is in the Republika Srpska and has an estimated 230,000 population.

WiRED executive director Gary Selnow traveled to Bosnia for both events. Medical school students, professors, and administrators attended, along with local doctors and the media.

 

Much of the funding for the centers comes from the Medtronic Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the international medical technology corporation, Medtronic.

 

Hrvoje Badovinac, country manager for Medtronic's Adriatic region, was on hand for the MIC's ribbon cutting at the Medical School of Banja Luka on Oct. 24. And on Oct. 26, Davor Kosovac, regional sales manager for navigation and neurologic technologies, attended the official opening at the Medical School of Mostar.

 

In addition to the current funding, Medtronic has subsidized much of WiRED's previous work in the former Yugoslavia.

 

"WiRED's humanitarian work fits with the Medtronic Foundation's mission," said Badovinac in Banja Luka. "That is why I am so happy to be here with you today, because your project—the WiRED Project—is fully in line with our goals and values: it provides access to health information, and does this through education using modern technology," Badinovac said.

 

Selnow spoke on behalf of WiRED, calling the Bosnian medical professionals an example of the "brotherhood of healers who have devoted their lives to improving the health of people they serve."

 

"Information has always driven the medical profession, but it does even more so today with advances increasing the options for diagnosis and treatment," Selnow said in his remarks to the Bosnian physicians and medical students.

 

In their own words,
what Bosnian doctors have to say about WiRED:

 

"Many thanks to WiRED International and the Medtronic Foundation for giving us the opportunity to be a part of the international medical community.

Due to limited funds, so far we haven't had a chance to get access to recent medical journals and textbooks. Now, we have this opportunity, like any other Medical Faculty in the world, to get up-to-date, medical information. This is a treasure of knowledge for us."

— Prof. Slobodan Bilbija, MD, PH.D, Dean, University of Banja Luka,
Faculty of Medicine

"We are happy that we now have, with WiRED International's donation, access to new information provided through the databases supplied by the World Health Organization and by WiRED's access Websites. We also thank Medtronic for its support of this program.

This is a big step for the future of our medical school and for our physicians and students, who will, through these resources, have easier and more rapid access to medical information. This will greatly improve the medical knowledge and skills of people studying and teaching medicine.

Further, it will lay the groundwork for even better medical care to all the people in this region of Bosnia."

— Prof. Dr. Ljerka Ostojić, Dean, University of Mostar, Medical Faculty

"The heart of the medical profession has been, and continues to be, a physician's knowledge," Selnow added. "If this were not so, students wouldn't spend so many years in medical school, and practicing physicians would not have need for Continuing Medical Education," he said.

 

Selnow also addressed the collective nature of medical knowledge.

 

"Collaboration is valuable in all professions, but in medicine, it is especially critical," he said. "Good doctoring requires good collaboration."

 

And he placed WiRED's work in a larger context.

 

"Doctors, who help heal bodies, can, we believe, also help heal societies by engaging in discussions and collaborations with their colleagues abroad," he said.

 

Selnow had particular thanks for WiRED's volunteers and board of directors, Medtronic, and the technicians responsible for getting the centers up and running. He singled out Dr. Zgjim Lamani, a doctor from Kosovo, who organized the installations and who has worked with WiRED since he was a medical student.

 

WiRED has completed numerous projects in the region, setting up both MICs and Community Health Information Centers that provide information to the public as well as medical professionals in Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

 

Its work in the area began in 1999 in Kosovo, just after the war, in collaboration with the Global Technology Corps at the U.S. Department of State.

 

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