PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL USES OF THE INTERNET

Abstract

Information has never been more readily accessible. Everywhere we look, we see Internet Web addresses. Whether it is a television program, a product brochure, or an advertisement, we are directed to the Internet for further details. Product manuals contain Internet addresses to contact technical support and download updates. This information expansion has been mirrored by an equally impressive growth in the availability of medical information for both medical professionals and consumers. The Internet is a large computer network that employs the and protocol for information management. A reference textbook is a concrete example of the store and forward process. The telephone answering machine stores a message until the recipient asks to hear it. Information is held on a computer (store) until it is requested (forward). The World Wide Web and the Internet were constructed around this process. What we perceive as real-time processes today are often rapid implementations of the store and forward protocol. An electronic example of this process is e-mail. E-mail has become an accepted form of communication in our global society. It is inexpensive, can be nearly instantaneous, and is widely available. The latest implementations of e-mail include multimedia messages with text, photos, and audio and video files. One of the most significant tasks physicians face is keeping up with the latest medical findings. Routine reading of specialty journals combined with continuing medical education courses is considered the optimal way for most practitioners to stay current. With the advent of the Internet, this information is being transformed into online content. At the same time, the traditional business models used to deliver educational content to the practitioners are being challenged. The next phase of growth in the Internet will revolve around real-time processing of information. E-commerce is fueling this drive, which may soon have a significant effect on our professional lives and how we practice medicine. In this article, we explore the Internet's impact on ophthalmology and consider how it may affect our specialty in the future.