title: The role of new information technology meeting the global need and gap of education in pediatric surgery.
abstract: Traditionally, pediatric surgical education consisted of exposure to patients, textbooks, lectures, team-based education, congresses, and workshops. Over the last decades, however, new information technology (IT) and the internet revolutionized the sharing of information and communication. IT has become relevant in particular for the younger generation of pediatric surgeons. Today, gaps in children's health and the quality of pediatric surgical education persist between countries and regions. Advances in health care are not shared equitably. The use of IT for resource libraries, teleconferences, virtual symposiums, and telementoring has great potential in closing this gap and meeting the global needs for pediatric surgical education. This article focuses on the potential role of IT in this respect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: ure.benno@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ure
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zoeller
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lacher
mesh_terms: D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000639:trends*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000639:trends*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Information technology; Teleconferencing; Teleconsultation; Telementoring