BIDDEFORD, Maine — Several medical students in Maine are trying out a new option for delivering medical care.
There’s nothing like doctor-to-patient interaction to help medical students learn.
These University of New England students are interviewing an actor about his symptoms to help diagnose and treat his condition, but one of the med students isn’t actually in the room.
It takes a little bit of getting used to. This “double robot” is on a trial run at UNE. It takes “telemedicine” to a whole new level.
There are a number of different applications for the double robot. It can help connect medical students from the different campuses in Biddeford, Portland and even Morocco. Or it could be used in rural areas, where access to medical care is more limited.
The “double robot” is making a difference in the way medicine is taught and where it is practiced.
Again, the big difference is that, unlike other forms of telemedicine, the robot is mobile and can move through classrooms and hallways or from room to room in a hospital.
It also can be lowered for a doctor to get a different look or angle at the patient being examined or questioned.