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The international telemedicine conference Chinese TeleMed 96 was held in November 1996. This three-way teleconference included delegates in London (where the international telemedicine conference TeleMed 96 was taking place) and medical staff from one Beijing hospital and one Hong Kong medical faculty. In total, over 1000 health-care personnel across eight time-zones participated. The event demonstrated that the quality of teleconferencing technology was suitable for medical teaching, for providing medical consultations to remote locations and for stimulating medical exchanges. In general, planning a telemedicine conference requires a longer lead time, a wider representation of expertise in the organizing committee and more financial resources than conventional conferences. It is recommended that the aim and format of a telemedicine conference be determined at least one year before the target date. Criteria for improving the preparation of such conferences have been identified and a set of guidelines for future conference organizers has been drawn up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor about the role of telemedicine in health care is presented.

The article discusses the role of teleconferencing in training endoscopists in therapeutic endoscopy. Teleconferencing can provide a forum for the introduction of new technology and for practitioners to learn techniques from experienced endoscopists. An experienced audiovisual personnel is essential to the smooth running of therapeutic endoscopy workshops, which requires transmission of video and audio signals.