9317705 Bader This project proposes expanding Internet access from the main academic campus of The George Washington University to the entire George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) including its affiliated faculty at primary care sites throughout the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. GWUMC is committed to the education of the generalist physician and through this project, which will connect the computer network at the Medical Center to Internet, can offer universal access to all members of the Medical Center's extended constituency, those working at the academic hub as well as those in the more remote primary care sites. The connection will enhance communication and collaboration between physicians, researchers, librarians, students, and staff at GWUMC and their colleagues around the world. Students will learn that service in a primary care setting does not mean isolation from colleagues, access to information and the latest advances in medical practice. The Internet will be demonstrated as a bond which can balance the scales between academicians at universities, major teaching hospitals , and research centers with their counterparts in community hospitals, urban or rural clinics, and the solo practitioner's office. The Medical Center as part of its information management strategic plan is installing an FDDI network named MedNet, which will integrate the hospital and faculty practice plan information management systems, the academic computing system (including library, bibliographic and clinical information systems), and all departmental LANs. Current access to the Internet for the Medical Center is limited to dial-access to the University computing center for researchers, physicians, and students based at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. This project will establish desktop connectivity with the Internet for all faculty, staff and students, including connected to the GWUMC network (MedNet) from all on and off-campus locatio ns with the Internet by installing FDDI cards which will link its routers to the George Washington University's fibreoptic network (GWIN) and its Internet gateway.
