St. Joe’s Respirologists Diagnose and Treat Patients in China by Video Conference
Photo caption: St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton doctors and medical specialists video conferencing with Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases doctors
Video conferencing allows groups of people located around the world to communicate face-to-face. For the first time last week, videoconferencing has allowed doctors and medical specialists in Hamilton to diagnose and treat patients located in China.
Four world-renowned experts from the Firestone Institute from Respiratory Health at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, including Drs. Paul O’Byrne, Martin Kolb, Andrew McIvor and Gerard Cox, were invited to join in an international consultation meeting with over 2,000 participating hospitals and 9,000 doctors, students and researchers in China.
Our expert panel was able to use their expertise to help resolve two challenging patient cases, providing education and training to the attendees participating in the session.
“The Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health located at St. Joe’s has a formal, collaborative relationship with the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China,” states Dr. Paul O’Byrne, Director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health and Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University. “Because of our partnership, we were able to have a very interesting discussion about how we arrive at diagnostics and how we select treatment options.”
The interactive videoconference was sponsored by the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases as well as AstraZeneca China.
“This session served as a successful pilot for holding these types of international consultations online,” says Dr. O’Byrne. “We hope to continue holding these sessions and interacting with our Chinese colleagues in the future.”
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The Hamilton Spectator