The master`s degree course in telemedicine at the Univerity of Tromsø - demand, approach and state of implementation

THE MASTER'S DEGREE COURSE IN TELEMEDICINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ - DEMAND, APPROACH AND STATE OF IMPLEMETNTATION

 

Hartviksen, Gjermund, Project Manager, Faculty of Medicine - University of Tromsø

 

The University of Tromsø is planning a two-year master's degree course in telemedicine, in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine. The course will be offered internationally, targeting candidates requesting a deeper insight into telemedicine. Except for that, students may have different background and skills. Both central and local governmental managers and relevant industry seem to demand competence in developing and implementing telemedicine services integral with having knowledge of formal and informal processes in the health care sector. There is also an internal impetus, first of all concerning the need for telemedicine workers to have their special field defined. A master program defining the core elements of telemedicine is one such contribution meeting this demand. This might also move the field in the direction of a more methodological and scientific advanced discipline, which will eventually elevate the status of the field as well as of its contributors. The master course will have a multidisciplinary approach, encouraging the students to keeping their initial identity and developing their initial discipline and at the same time develop their ability to connect to experts from other disciplines to gain new knowledge. Our strategic approach should thus be twofold. First, the education should reflect the need for competence in the development and implementation of telemedicine services. Second, it should also cover other relevant subjects which are neglected in ordinary project work due to a shortage of time and other resources. The presentation will deal with the need for - and problems with - multidisciplinarity and how we intend to solve it at the University of Tromsø. It will also give an overview over the master's degree course, the demand and the state of implementation