ABOUT US

Institute of Medical Informatics and Multimedia Education (IMIME)

AIMS intends to be a leader in imparting state of the art healthcare education to learners at all levels of training and wishes to attract the best students and faculty to our institution. In pursuit of this goal, AIMS has established an Institute of Medical Informatics and Multimedia Education (IMIME), which will be a center of excellence for the provision of multidisciplinary medical education of an international standard. It will focus on improving patient care at the bedside by a judicious combination of enhancing basic and advanced clinical skills, procedural aptitude, development of electronic medical records and the use of point-of-care decision support modalities. These facilities will be made available not only to the students and faculty at AIMS but also to trainees and physicians from elsewhere in India and abroad. IMIME includes:

Division of Medical Informatics

Division of Medical Multimedia

Center for Advanced Surgical Education (CASE)

Learning Resource Center (LRC)

Research and Technology Assessment Unit

Division of Continuing Medical Education and International Programs

Clinical Practice Unit

These components of IMIME will function synergistically to build outstanding programs in medical training, procedural skills, applied medical informatics, continuing medical education, clinical practice, research and medical humanities. Though the challenges are many, the potential rewards to our society and profession are great.

Division of Medical Informatics

Medical Informatics is the science that deals with medical information, its structure, acquisition and use. This relatively new field is grounded in the principles of computer science, information science, cognitive science, social science and engineering. The division will address specific areas within this broad scope of practice, seeking to collaborate with internal and external groups in the refinement of a comprehensive electronic medical record system, clinical databases and development of point-of-care decision support systems to enhance patient care in real-time outpatient and inpatient settings.

Division of Medical Multimedia

The multimedia group will develop educational material for clinical, pre-clinical and informatics trainees ranging from fundamental concepts and procedures in medicine, to those that are cutting-edge developments in patient care and informatics. The group will also work with other departments at AIMS for developing strong multimedia based education programs.

Center for Advanced Surgical Education (CASE)

CASE is one of the key components of IMIME. It will impart advanced surgical training including cadaveric lab facilities in an operating room environment supported by world-class infrastructure. Currently, there is a dearth of high-quality centers in India to provide such training. This has a negative impact on the training of Indian surgeons, as well as in the care of our patients. Both groups either go abroad if affluent or suffer the consequences. AIMS is committed to addressing this imbalance and believes that CASE will be a significant step in the right direction. CASE once fully complete will house 2 operating tables, a seminar room, procedural, bone and endoscopy skills workstations and a multimedia library. Adjacent labs and lecture halls provide additional resources for the successful conduct of educational symposiums and workshops. Virtual reality facilities are also under consideration. CASE has cutting-edge audio-visual support to enhance the learning environment.

Research and Technology Assessment Unit

Areas of emphasis are on the development of research databases, curricular innovation and in systematic evaluation of the role of the physical examination in diagnostic and prognostic algorithms. In addition, the unit critically evaluates new technologies for their utility in clinical practice and education. The unit will also have formal programs for teaching research methodology and participates in research networks within AIMS as well as externally.

The Department of Telemedicine

AIMS established the first Telemedicine Centre in Kerala in September 2002. This center was set up with the help of Indian Space Research Organization, which selected AIMS for its pilot Telemedicine project in the state of Kerala. It is a vibrant department, active in medical care, education and research.

Consultative Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the process of exchanging medical information between remote centers using advanced technology such as video conferencing and communications systems as diverse as satellites to standard telephone lines. Doctors at remote locations can use this network to consult specialists at larger hospitals for advice regarding patient care and treatment of illnesses. Doctors at tertiary care hospitals can in turn discuss patient related problems and exchange information with their colleagues at other centers. Thus patients can be treated at remote locations on the advice of a doctor located elsewhere. Medical care no longer would have geographical constraints, and many people would be spared the effort of traveling great distances to seek competent medical attention. This will be a vital approach to reducing costs and increasing access to high-quality healthcare for the disadvantaged in India.

AIMS Telemedicine services started on 23rd September, 2002 by providing teleconsultation to the people of Lakshadweep through the Indira Gandhi Hospital, Kavaratti. Lakshadweep is a perfect example for the application of Telemedicine since it is group of islands located about 440kms away from the mainland, with a total population of about 64,000. The residents of these islands find it extremely difficult and expensive to travel to the mainland for specialized medical care. The Telemedicine network makes specialist consultations available right at their doorstep.

In the past two years, we have so far provided over 800 teleconsultations to the patients in remote places, which have helped them avoid unnecessary travel to larger cities.

Community-based Telemedicine

AIMS provides direct services in rural communities with the backup of telemedicine. This is provided utilizing mobile telemedicine vans, local telemedicine clinics operated by community physicians or the government and uplinks from disaster sites such as the multiple Tsunami relief camps run by the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Consumer-initiated Telemedicine

AIMS is exploring novel healthcare delivery modalities like home-based and kiosk-based telemedicine services, with requests initiated by patients or public in concert with leading IT and telecommunications providers.

Tele-education

About 250 CME programs and seminars/conferences have so far been telecasted to remote medical institutes. A large number of multi-centric conferences and educational discussions with academic centers in both India and abroad (U.S., Europe, Japan) have also occurred.

Tele-research

Working in conjunction with the research unit of IMIME, web and home-based tele-research modalities have been developed that facilitate a greater understanding of the applications of IT to healthcare, as well as generating clinically useful information.