Madicine Is A Vocation.

Medicine is the science and practice of preventing,diagnosing and treating disease.It had its origins in ancient Greece in the 7th century BC and is one of the oldest and most respected professions in the world.

Perhaps the best known name in the history of medicine is that Hippocrates, the Greek physician who gave his name to the Hippocratic Oath and founded the Hippocratic school of medicine,which greatly influenced medical science until 18th century.

Incredibly, his followers believed that health was governed by the balance of four fluids or humours: phlegm, blood,black bile and yellow bile. Of course, medicine has come a long way since the "balance of four body fluids" with the recent advances in molecular biology and genetics which promise the revolutionize therapeutics in the future.

But today,we are going to look at the profession of medicine in terms of its philosophy and social responsibility, because medicine seems to have lost its way in a rapidly changing world. Both the profession and society are forgetful that medicine has an imponderable spiritual core that could be called its soul.

Medicine is a profession,unlike any other.It is not a nine-to-five job, nor a trade or a business that brings in a respectable income to provide a comfortable lifestyle. It is an exquisite blend of science and art. Medicine is essentially a vocation or a calling, which demands a lifetime of dedicated care for sick and infirm. A vocation is an occupation that is distinguished by altruism, a sense of social responsibility, and fulfillment of an ethical or spiritual need. The word "vocation" is derived from the Latin "vocare" which means "to call."

For the past five or six decades,we have witnessed a decline in the age-old values and ethical traditions of our healing profession. Perhaps,being neglect of the philosophy of medicine and medical ethics in medical education, before and after graduation, has weakened professionalism and the ethical foundations of medicine.

The core values of medicine are being submerged and lost in the materialistic paradigms of the modern world of private enterprise and business, marketing and advertising, wealth accumulation and consumerism. These paradigms are being embedded in a changing global culture, which has been largely subsumed by the concepts and methods of market economics.

While medicine cannot change all aspects of global culture, nevertheless, the medical profession can and must exert its considerable influence in society and ensure that negative economic and cultural forces do not undermine or dismantle medical professionalism.

Professionalism is governed by an agree set of rules and standards of practice and conduct, determined by the profession and society in the public interest. It is important that the medical profession does not interpret professionalism as a license to serve the interests of the profession itself, rather than the population it has a duty to serve.

It also has a duty to maintain professional standard, independent of political influence but accountable to the public it serves. A part from knowledge, it is professionalism, ethical practice and compassion that transform a doctor into a healer.

Despite modern health systems and profound advances in medical science and technology, patient-care studies show a steady decline in public satisfaction and trust in the doctor-patient relationship. Although a significant number of patients are satisfied with their individual doctors, there is discontent with total health care experience and a growing movement towards alternative and complementary medicine.

A Mori poll in 1999 asked the random selection of the public to say which professionals could be trusted to tell the truth. The result were: doctors 91%, judges 77%, scientists 63%,businessmen 28%,politicians 23% and journalists 15%.

In Malaysia, part of this disenchantment with modern medicine is related to the low morale of health professionals, particularly in the public sector. Overworked and underpaid doctors and nurses in public hospitals are experiencing exhaustion and disillusionment with a system that does not show sufficient respect and compassion for its workforce, a system that does not show enough commitment to providing health care for all, a system in dire need of radical reform.

Private health care is being set up in the marketplace and exploited for profit by businesses, insurance companies and managed care organizations. An emerging commercial culture is dehumanizing doctor and patient a like, causing glaring inequalities in health care and testing the moral leadership of the medical profession.

If medicine is allowed to become a business, doctors will become businessmen. Doctor are being reduced to replaceable "providers" and patients to generic "consumers". In managed care organization, doctors resemble factory workers, processing patients as items on a conveyor belt.

The Malaysian government is promoting health tourism and touting health care as a sale able commodity, calculated to increase government revenue and inflict a brain drain of specialists from government and university hospitals to the private sector.

The crisis in health care is partly an economic crisis of rising health care cost, but the profound crisis in medicine is a crisis of doctoring and the relegating of medicine as an occupation like any other.

Education in general has become an institutional and mass production process. It is widely recognized and recommended that the needed improvements in the quality of health care require fundamental reforms in medical education. The two most important responsibilities of any government are the provision of quality education and affordable, universal health care.

In Malaysia, private medical schools are multiplying without stringent regulation of curricula, teachers, and teaching standards, often as a result of political and business pressures. The medical profession in Malaysia has a duty to respond to such challenges and ask decision-makers if they realize that the health of next generation of Malaysians will be at risk from inadequately trained health professionals.

The three-thousand-year tradition, which forged a bond of trust between doctor and patient, is being traded for new kind of relationship. Healing is being replaced with treating; caring is being displaced by the technical management of disease; the art of talking and listening to the patient is being supplanted by the hum of sophisticated medical equipment. The human body is seen as a repository of unrelated, malfunctioning organs, often separated from the doctor's healing touch by cold, impersonal machines.

This is not to undervalue science and technology. On the contrary, healing is best achieved when art and science are conjoined, when the practice of medicine reveals a compassionate human face, when doctor and patient form a bond and caring partnership of equals.

In developing the means for modern health care, society has forgotten the "meaning" of medicine. Medicine is primarily a humanistic endeavour, not a purely scientific one. Science and technology have a rightful place, but medicine is a healing profession, and the contribution of a doctor adds up to more than the sum total of his or her knowledge and skills.

We often forget that the patient is a person who is far more important than the illness; that illness is far more important that the presence of disease; that, when a disease is not curable, the empathic care of the patient and grieving family provides hope and comfort. Our technological society is often blinded and carried away by belief in the technological fix and fails to see how we might treat each other as 'flesh-and-blood' fellow human beings.

Another flaw in modern medicine flows from the application of mercantile imperatives to health care. The profession and society need to isolate and combat the contagion of materialism and commercialization of health care, by re-injecting core human values into the corpus of medicine. The soul of medicine is in dire need of redemption.

VISIONS OF HEALTH FOR ALL

The 1978 Alma Ata vision of health for All and the World Health Organisation's policy of Health for All in the 21st Century have laid down global priorities and targets which could create conditions for people worldwide to achieve and maintain the highest attainable level of health throughout their lives.

The medical profession has a moral and professional responsibility to champion and help to create the conditions that will provide the basic human right to life and health. As the social conscience of the international community, the medical profession must press governments to develop the political will to be focused and committed to turning the vision of health for all into a practical, universal and sustainable reality.

It is in this context that the medical profession has a social responsibility to be committed advocates for the alleviation and eradication of poverty and inequity. At the same time, the profession also has a public health responsibility to support those working to protect the environment from the impact of ecologically unsustainable economic development and other human activities, which are now exceeding the physical and ecological limits of the planet and causing environmental damage, pollution, global warming and climate change, all of which have serious health consequences.

In addressing poverty as the largest single social determinant of health, the profession has a fundamental duty to monitor economic globalization and work with advocacy groups to ensure that it will bring benefits for all. Already, there is evidence that trade liberalization and capital flows are increasing inequality, within and between countries, and undermining the provision of quality health care.

Economic inequalities have been widening steadily for almost two hundred years. The difference between the richest and poorest countries was about 3 to 1 in 1820, 35 to 1 in 1950 and 73 to 1 in 1992. The total assets of the 200 richest people in the world amount to more than the combined assets of 41 percent of the world's population of more than six billion people. Over half of the world's population struggles to survive on less than RM 7.00 per day.

Equitable public health systems, which offer affordable universal health care, are important expressions of social solidarity. But international policies and globalization of trade and services are removing protective barriers to enable foreign companies ti participate in the privatization of health services for profit, putting affordable health care beyond the reach of all but very affluent.

Although global health indicators are slowly improving, increasing inequality will reverse those gain. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS has already lowered life expectancy in Africa and other countries and doubled the number of people infected with the disease in the last decade.

One quarter of the global burden of disease is preventable or easily curable. Seventy-two percent of the world's population has access to safe water, but 2.6 billion people still lack access to basic sanitation. The following annual expenditures in US dollars tell the story of the world's skewed priorities:

Basic education for all: $ 6 billion
Cosmetics in the USA: $ 8 billion
Water and sanitation for all: $ 9 billion
Ice Cream in Europe: $ 11 billion
Reproductive health for all women: $ 12 billion
Perfume in Europe and the USA: $ 12 billion
Basic health and nutrition: $ 13 billion
Pet foods in Europe and the USA: $ 17 billion
Business entertainment in Japan $ 35 billion
Cigarettes in Europe: $ 50 billion
Alcoholic drinks in Europe: $ 105 billion
World military spending: $ 900 billion

THE MEDICALISATION OF HEALTH

In his book, Medical Nemesis and Limits to Medicine, Ivan Illich, one of the most severe critics of modern industrialized medicine, censored iatrogenic diseases and coined the phrase, 'the medicalisation of health,' a derogatory term that is applied to over-investigation and unnecessary treatment of physiologically normal processes, such as normal pregnancy, normal childbirth, ageing and dying.

Although most doctor believe medicine to be a force for good and acknowledge that on occasion the practice of medicine can do harm, few would agree with Illich that the medical establishment has become a major threat to health. But many might agree with the concerns of the health economist, Alain Enthoven, who claims that unregulated medical procedures and treatments would at some point become counter-productive and result in more harm than good.

The question is whether we have already reached that point in the developed world, where health budgets are steadily increasing to provide expensive secondary and tertiary hospital care that only has marginal benefits. At the same time, many developing countries cannot afford simple, inexpensive public health measures, such as sanitation, clean water, adequate nutrition, immunization, vector control, and universal primary care, all of which would help to prevent thousands of premature deaths in children.

Illich argued that there are limits to medicine, that death, pain and illness are part of being human, and that all cultures have developed ways of helping people cope with these inescapable realities of life. He has castigated modern medicine for undermining these cultures and medicalise many of life's normal processes.

The Chamber Dictionary defines disease as "an unhealthy state of body and mind, a disorder, illness, or an ailment with distinctive symptoms caused by infection, for examples." Health is even harder to define than disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as "a state of complete physical and mental well-being and not merely the absence of disease."

The British Medical Journal has defined 'non-disease' as a 'human process or problem that some have defined as a medical condition, but where people may have better outcomes, if the process or problem was not defined in that way.' In other words, you would be better off to leave non-disease alone and not have medical treatment for it.

In a recent survey, members of the British Medical Association voted the following top non-diseases in descending order of 'non-diseaseness': ageing, work, boredom, bags under the eyes, ignorance, baldness, freckles, big ears, grey or white hair, lack of photogenic looks, childbirth, allergy to the 21 st. century, jet lag, unhappiness, cellulite, a hangover, pregnancy, road rage and loneliness.

But there are some aspects of medicalisation that arise out of requests from families when they cannot cope with the ill-health of their loved ones. Some of these problems come within the scope of medicine, but there is a fine line beyond which medicine has only a minor role, if any.

Dirgahayu Malaysia Negaraku - Semperna Hari Kemerdekaan ke 51

Kita akan menyambut kemerdekaan yang ke 51 menjelang jam 12.00 tengah malam nanti. Tepat jam 12.00 tengah malam, menjelang 31 Ogos 2008, di seluruh negara akan diadakan majlis sambutan kemerdekaan mengikut citarasa dan rasacita masing-masing, yang pasti pada malam ini ramailah anak-anak muda, orang-orang belia, orang-orang tua dan pelbagai macam kategori manusia yang akan menyambut malam kemerdekaan. Di UiTM, sejak beberapa hari lalu telah diadakan Festival Kemerdekaan (FESKEM) yang dianjurkan oleh Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar UiTM.

Secara kebetulan, saya baru balik daripada Indonesia baru-baru ini, Indonesia telah menyambut hari kemerdekaan ke 61 mereka pada 17 Ogos 2008 yang lalu, walaupun mereka telah menyambut hari kemerdekaan ke 61 pada 17 Ogos 2008 tetapi masih terdapat banyak bendera indonesia dikibarkan seluruh daerah di Indonesia, dirumah, dipejabat kerajaan, ditepi-tepi jalan dan sebagainya seolah-olah mereka masih menyambut hari kemerdekaan walaupun selepas 17 Ogos 2008. Pada masa yang sama pelbagai aktiviti kebudayaan untuk memeriahkan hari kemerdekaan mereka masih lagi dilaksanakan dikampung-kampung, daerah, bandar dan sebagainya walaupun selepas 17 Ogos 2008.

Meninjau suasana menyambut kemerdekaan di Malaysia, saya membuat kesimpulan bahawa rakyat indonesia lebih patriotik terhadap negara mereka jika dibandingkan dengan rakyat Malaysia. Bendera Malaysia yang dikibarkan dirumah, di pejabat dan di jalan-jalan raya boleh dikira dengan jari. Kecuali jika anda berada didalam kampus UiTM, terlalu banyak bendera Malaysia yang dikibarkan sehingga anda tidak dapat mengira dengan semua jari-jari yang anda ada termasuk jari kaki.

Apapun, selamat menyambut hari kemerdekaan yang ke 51, semoga kita sebenar-benarnya merdeka dari segi fizikal dan mental daripada penjajahan moden seperti liberalisasi dan globalisasi. Perpaduan Asas Kejayaan.

Marhaban Ya, Ramadhan...

Selamat menyambut bulan suci Ramadhan 1429 Hijrah kepada semua mahasiswa, warga, alumni UiTM dan pembaca yang budiman yang akan menyambut kedatangan Ramadhan beberapa hari lagi.

Semoga Allah SWT berkenan memberikan segala kebajikan seperti yang telah dijanjikanNYA melalui Al Qur'an dan Sunnah Rasulullah Salallahuwa Alaihi Wasallam sebagaimana yang kita imani sebagai seorang muslim.

Sekadar mengisi waktu yang terluang menjelang waktu berbuka puasa nanti, maka dengan segala kerendahan hati izinkanlah saya mencadangkan kepada semua mahasiswa dan pembaca agar melihat dan menyemak kembali laman rujukan atau di halaman lain yang Insya Allah, sama berfaedah untuk kita semua.

Mudah-mudahan kita termasuk dalam golongan orang-orang yang beruntung tidak sahaja selama menjalankan ibadah yang teramat istimewa ini, akan tetapi begitu juga ibadah yang seterusnya kerana ibadah merangkumi seluruh aspek kehidupan kita.

Amin!

Seorang Mahasiswa UiTM Shahid Di Seksyen 7, Shah Alam, Selangor

Pada jam sekitar 11.45 pagi tadi saya menerima panggilan telefon daripada Pegawai Pembangunan Pelajar Non-Resident En. Bakar bahawa terdapat berita kematian yang melibatkan mahasiswa NR UiTM.

Saya bergegas ke lokasi yang dimaklumkan oleh En. Bakar di seksyen 7, Shah Alam, Selangor. Hasil maklumat yang diperolehi saksi-saksi kejadian, mahasiswa tersebut collapse di Padang Permainan seksyen 7 Shah Alam semasa melalui kawasan padang tersebut.

Semasa saya tiba di tempat kejadian, pihak polis sedang mengendalikan kes tersebut, mayat akan dibawa ke Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang untuk dibedahsiasat. Semoga roh Allahyarham Mohd. Murad Daud mahasiswa Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal,UiTM Malaysia sentiasa dicucuri rahmat oleh Allah S.W.T. - Al Fatihah.

Majlis Penutup Journey of Knowledge Nusantara Bandung (JoKNB)

Pada malam terakhir kami di Bandung pada 25 Ogos 2008, kami mengadakan majlis makan malam dan persembahan kebudayaan dimana semua puteri kolej delima mempersembahkan tarian joget kelantan, mereka juga mendendangkan lagu-lagu kotemporori bagi memeriahkan lagi majlis tersebut.

Nyatalah kepada saya bahawa kebudayaan mampu mengeratkan perhubungan dua negara yang bertetangga. KoKNB membuktikannya kepada saya.

Indonesia Daripada Kapal Terbang (Penglihatan Dari Mata Burung)

Dalam perjalanan pulang ke Kuala Lumpur daripada Airport Soekarno-Hatta saya sempat merakam foto Jakarta daripada udara, penglihatan daripada mata burung. Hati kecil saya berbisik, Indonesia sememangnya unik dan menarik,mempunyai ribuan pulau, mempunyai gunung berapi dan mempunyai sumber alam yang amat berharga sehingga tidak ternilai harganya kerana bentuk mukabuminya. Gambar di atas dirakamkan pada 26 Ogos 2008 semasa di atas kapalterbang Air-Asia.

Taman Wisata Alam Gunung Takuban Perahu Bandung - Tanda Kebesaran Ilahi

Pada 25 Ogos disebelah petang, kami melawat Gua Takuban Perahu di daerah Bandung, saya kagum dengan kecantikan mukabumi gunung berapi yang masih mengeluarkan debu sulfurnya ke udara diawan tinggi dan kedinginan puncak Gunung Takuban Perahu. Hati kecil saya berkata inilah tanda-tanda kebesaran Tuhan.

Perjumpaan Dengan Rektor Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Perjumpaan dengan Rektor UPI Prof. Dr. Sunaryo Kartadinata berlangsung dengan suasana yang cukup mesra dan penuh bersejarah, beliau menyatakan kesediaan UPI untuk menjalin persefahaman dengan UiTM dalam aspek pendidikan. Pertemuan ini berlangsung pada 25 Ogos 2008 di Pejabat Rektor, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Mengikut ranking webometric Julai 2008 UPI berada ditangga 1291 daripada 5000 universiti di seluruh dunia.

Self Reflection - Journey of Knowledge Nusantara Bandung

Saya sempat bertemu sanak saudara saya dari keturunan HAJI RAIS di Indonesia semasa hari terakhir program journey of knowledge tersebut. Saudara saya, Nonki dan Haris menunggu di Hotel Setia Budi Bandung sejak jam 3.00 petang pada 25 Ogos 2008 (Isnin).

Kami (rombongan UiTM) sampai di Hotel Setia Budi Bandung selepas melawat Gunung Takuban Perahu, Jawa Barat pada jam 6.15 petang. Nonki dan Harris menunggu hampir 3 jam untuk merealisasikan suatu pertemuan. Saudara Nonki dan Haris turut serta semasa upacara makan malam penutup Journey of Knowledge Nusantara Bandung (JoKNB), selepas itu kami bersembang dan bercerita tentang pelbagai isu dan cerita berkaitan hal ehwal keluarga kami, peluang dan ruang perniagaan di sana, hal ehwal agama, soal politik dan bermacam lagi sehingga pagi. Semoga suatu hari nanti kita akan bertemu lagi.

Self Reflection - Journey of Knowledge:Nusantara Bandung

Saya menyifatkan Projek JoK:NB anjuran JPK Delima sebagai berjaya kerana ia mengeratkan lagi hubungan dua hala antara rakyat Malaysia dan Indonesia yang sebudaya, yang serumpun dan yang seketurunan. Semoga projek ini memberikan lembaran baru kepada perhubungan diantara UiTM-UPI (Universiti Teknologi MARA dan Universiti Pendidikan Indonesia).

Garut - Bandar Perusahaan Kulit Di Indonesia

Saya berada di Garut semasa mengemaskini blog ini. Banyak yang dipelajari di indonesia sepanjang program jurney of knowledge : Nusantara Bandung. Saya amat merindui isteri dan anak di Malaysia. Semoga berjumpa lagi.

Apa Itu Reformasi?

(réformasi) perubahan atau pembaharuan yg mengarah kpd keadaan yg lebih baik, mis dlm sistem sosial, politik, dan kebudayaan sesebuah masyarakat: maka lahirlah ~ gereja Protestan yg memisahkan diri dr gereja Katolik; bahasa Melayu sedang mengalami ~;mereformasi membuat reformasi pd: keperluan utk ~ sistem pendidikan agama yg ada.

Apa Itu Revolusi?

Perubahan (terutamanya dlm sistem pemerintahan atau dlm sistem sosial) yg dilakukan dgn kekerasan. merevolusikan bermaksud mengubah sistem pemerintahan negara atau sistem sosial dgn cara kekerasan.

(révolusi) 1. perubahan sesebuah kerajaan, sistem politik, atau sistem sosial yg dilakukan secara radikal dan kekerasan, spt rusuhan dan pemberontakan bersenjata: Angkatan 45 lahir sbg pernyataan ~ Indonesia; 2. perubahan yg menyeluruh dan mendadak, terutamanya dr segi cara berfikir, bertindak, dsb; ~ mental revolusi fikiran, perubahan pemikiran secara menyeluruh; berevolusi mengadakan revolusi; merevolusikan mengubah sistem pemerintahan (sosial dll) dgn kekerasan (cepat dll), membawa perubahan kpd sesuatu atau dlm sesuatu bidang secara radikal (meluas, menyeluruh, dan cepat).

Apa Itu Evolusi?

/évolusi/ perkembangan atau pertumbuhan secara beransur-ansur dan perlahan-lahan.(évolusi) 1. perubahan secara beransur-ansur pd haiwan atau tumbuhan, drpd satu generasi kpd generasi lain; 2. perkembangan secara beransur-ansur, terutamanya pd bentuk yg lebih kompleks: sudah terbukti bahawa sesuatu masyarakat itu menerima perubahan, sama ada secara ~ atau revolusi.

Journey of Knowledge - Nusantara Bandung

Pada pagi ini sekitar jam 3.00 am saya, pn. Rozlinda, Pn. Wan, Pn. Nadimah, Pn. Wani, Kak Be dan beberapa orang siswi kolej delima akan berangkat ke Indonesia untuk lawatan akademik ke Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Kami dijangka akan kembali ke tanah air pada 26 Ogos 2008 jam 10.00 malam.

Projek Journey of Knowledge-Nusantara Bandung ini adalah program pengantarabangsaan yang dianjurkan oleh Jawatankuasa Perwakilan Kolej Delima bertujuan untuk memahami dan mengetahui budaya pengajaran dan pembelajaran di Indonesia.

Revolusi Iran

Revolusi Iran (turut dikenali sebagai Revolusi Islam adalah sebuah revolusi yang mengubah kerajaan Iran daripada sistem pemerintahan monarki kepada sistem Republik Islam. Pertukaran ini dibuat melalui pungutan suara rakyat Iran oleh Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, setelah beliau berjaya mengusir raja Iran terakhir, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi keluar dari Iran.

Revolusi ini adalah sebuah gerakan yang unik kerana kejayaannya mengejutkan seluruh dunia. Sebab ia sesuatu yang unik kerana ia bukanlah berpunca daripada kekalahan dalam peperangan, krisis kewangan ataupun pemberontakan golongan bawahan mahupun tindakan ketenteraan, seperti revolusi-revolusi lain dalam sejarah bertulis manusia. Revolusi Iran berlaku dengan pantasnya dan berjaya menjatuhkan sebuah rejim yang dilengkapi dengan kuasa tentera yang kuat dan hebat dan rejim ini digantikan dengan sistem pemerintahan teokrasi yang diundi berdasarkan tahap kemuliaan seseorang itu.

Revolusi ini terjadi kepada dua peringkat. Peringkat pertama bermula pada pertengahan 1977 hingga tahun 1979 yang dipimpin oleh pihak liberal, golongan haluan kiri dan kumpulan agama. Kesemua mereka memberontak menentang Shah Iran. Peringkat kedua yang turut dikenali sebagai Revolusi Islam menyaksikan naiknya Ayatollah menjadi pemimpin revolusi.

Semantic Interoperability.......

Semantic Interoperability (also referred to as Computable Semantic Interoperability) is the ability of two or more computer systems to exchange information and have the meaning of that information automatically interpreted by the receiving system accurately enough to produce useful results, as defined by the end users of both systems.

Computers are used by human beings to find information, or receive it in a direct transfer, and to use it for purposes that the original creator of the information did not anticipate. At least some aspects of the information must be encoded in some standard fashion interpreted identically by all systems involved in relaying, if not processing or changing, that data.

While the criteria applied by such users will necessarily vary, some are very commonly invoked: the computer system receiving the information is able to use it properly in computation, without human intervention, and produce results satisfactory to the users of that receiver. Any context information required must be somehow reduced to representations that are shared. A common information exchange reference model must exist and both sides must defer to it as authoritative. The content of the information exchange requests are unambiguously defined: What is sent is [[sameness|the same as] what is understood. In terms of the conceptual interoperability model from simulation theory, information must be in a form whose meaning is independent of the application generating or using it.

Selesai Tapi Ia Adalah Suatu Permulaan Perjalanan.....

Lega, jam 4.00 petang tadi satu sesi taklimat untuk mendapatkan maklumat mengenai Total Healthcare Information System(THIS) daripada vendor yang mempunyai pengalaman dalam bidang tersebut telah berjalan dengan jayanya. Lebih 10 vendor mengambil bahagian dalam taklimat tersebut yang disampaikan oleh Prof. Dato' Dr. Khalid Yusof, dekan FoM, saya bertindak sebagai penyelaras bagi pihak PSMB dan Fakulti Perubatan.

Aplikasi THIS akan digunakan oleh Fakulti Perubatan dan Fakulti Pergigian UiTM sebagai suatu usaha untuk meningkatkan produktiviti warga fakulti secara berpasukan atau individu, ia juga menggalakkan perkongsian maklumat (knowledge-sharing) dan membentuk budaya kerja baru dalam fakulti dimana maklumat boleh diakses pada bila-bila masa walaupun berada di IMMB Sungai Buluh, CTC di Selayang, FoM di Shah Alam atau dimana-mana sahaja. Aplikasi THIS juga berperanan sebagai catalyst untuk meningkatkan penyelidikan dalam bidang perubatan disamping ia digunakan untuk memantapkan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di kedua-dua fakulti tersebut.

Saya rasa lega kerana langkah pertama telah bermula tetapi langkah-langkah seterusnya saya rasakan akan lebih mencabar setelah semua vendor memberikan maklumat THIS kepada UiTM. Saya perlu melengkapkan diri saya dengan sebanyak maklumat dan pengetahuan mengenai aplikasi THIS. Ia memberikan saya satu cabaran baru......

Wikipedia: hospital information system

A hospital information system (HIS), variously also called clinical information system (CIS) is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage the administrative, financial and clinical aspects of a hospital. This encompasses paper-based information processing as well as data processing machines.

As an area of medical informatics the aim of an HIS is to achieve the best possible support of patient care and administration by electronic data processing.

It can be composed of one or a few software components with specialty-specific extensions as well as of a large variety of sub-systems in medical specialties (e.g. Laboratory Information System, Radiology Information System).

CISs are sometimes separated from HISs in that the former concentrate on patient-related and clinical-state-related data (electronic patient record) whereas the latter keeps track of administrative issues.

The World Health Organization "List of Errors to Avoid" in Planing, Developing and Installing Hospital Information Systems

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of errors to avoid when designing, installing or supporting an Healthcare Information System / Hospital Information System / HIS:

1. Don't depend too much on one pioneering innovator, and do not leave any such innovator in charge - they will become too rigid and narrow-minded in their views, and stifle change and development.
2. Don't spend a large amount of time creating a detailed, rigid specification - it will be out of date before being designed, built, and implemented; rather, specify core principles and functionality together with a design-and-build or prototyping methodology.
3. Don't leave performance criteria, both in terms of functions provided and maximum percentage downtime to chance, but include them in the procurement contract.
4. Don't forget error correction and maintenance - write minimum standards into supply contracts, and ensure that there are sanctions, e.g., part of procurement payment held back until satisfactory functioning over a specified period; maintenance payments paid partly at the end of each period with reductions for loss of service.
5. Don't let the supplier determine needs or performance; instead, ensure that the customer remains in control.
6. Don't exploit your supplier - whilst the customer should lead, an aggrieved supplier provides a poor service and a bankrupted supplier disappears and leaves the customer stranded.
7. Don't impose "solutions" on end users and data suppliers; rather, ensure that they feel they are valued and want the system.
8. Don't automate today's paper processes - look at what new functions and methods automated Information Systems can undertake.
9. Don't specify too futuristically - there is a limit to how much people or an organization can change in one move; instead allow an evolutionary path.
10. Don't treat the organization or the specification as rigid structure, but instead allow for organizational and end-user learning, as well as technological and environmental change.
11. Don't stop evaluation at the point of installation testing - there will be ongoing organizational and personal behavioral change that must be identified and appropriate adjustments made.
12. Don't stop investing in a "successful" system - it will soon become out-of-date, and disillusionment will set in thus, to the dismay of users and paying parties, the "success" will soon evaporate.
13. Don't be complacent with a "successful" system - the very word of its success will increase usage, overload access, and degrade performance — this applies to all elements, including data networks and communications.
14. Don't confuse Education (concerned with changing professional practice and performance) with Training (about how to operate a system).
15. Don't change practice and switch on a system in one activity, but also don't computerize old practice - separate the two change processes, even though this will mean a short period of dysfunctional working, so as to ensure that the different changes are fully understood, and any problems can be traced to the correct source to facilitate rapid adjustment.
16. Don't rely on memory or suppliers - persons can forget, become ill, or leave; suppliers can go out of business or be taken over. Ensure that everything is properly documented, including performance agreements, and all systems specifications, functionalities, applications, and operational routines — the constant test must be "Could a new person take over that task tomorrow?".
17. Don't overlook the need for convincing answers on confidentiality - it will be a prime question from all health professionals before they use a system.
18. Don't think that removing names from records creates confidentiality - other factual combinations in records can effectively identify indirectly by implication or circumstance.
19. Don't assume that any types of data item are of low confidentiality - for some individuals any specific item may be very confidential because of personal circumstances, e.g., address or blood group.
20. Don't touch anything which does not run on open standards, is of a closed proprietary nature, or cannot accommodate modern recognized data and other standards - any short-term gain will be minimal compared with the cost of the dead end up which you are committing your organization.
21. Don't think that any Information System project is ever finished - if it successful, people will want more of it; if it unsuccessful, adjustments are clearly needed; and in any eventuality circumstances will change.

This list, named "A Don't List in Setting Up an Healthcare Information System", first appeared in the manual Setting up Healthcare Services Information Systems: A Guide for Requirement Analysis, Application Specification, and Procurement, edited in 1999 by PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) - a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO).