Later, at a text conference, all the doctors could discuss the subject more effectively.
A grant helped us to provide computer resources and Internet connection to the rural medical center, allowing rural health care professionals to join a VCU at the UniNet network for collaborative work with medical specialists from the General Yagüe Hospital by web, text conference and e-mail.
The next step was to develop a permanent text conferencing system – what we now know as an internet forum.
3. Chat sessions, or text conferencing, was the most relevant tool.
These sessions were provided by means of the simultaneous connection of the specialized doctors involved and the rural doctors in a private channel of text-conferencing.
Text conferencing is a long-distance communication tool that is simple, powerful and cheap [ 10], all reasons why it is a useful and valid tool for the objectives.
Next, an Introduction to Internet course was delivered, and in the following months, the doctors were trained in computer operation and how to use the diverse services available via the Internet: Web, electronic mail, online databases and text conferencing.
Between January and June 2001, when it was agreed that the doctors had had enough training, we launched the first steps of the continuing medical education program, including clinical sessions, bibliographic reviews, conferences to maintain currency, debate, etc., using live communication by text conferencing, hosted on the UniNet network.
The integration of professionals into a VCU such as UniNet will not totally compensate for the lack of local library services, but electronic communications, such as synchronous text conferencing, provide a way to incorporate learning activities through expert collaboration, with a useful and practical model of continuing medical education.
Many of these programs were originally developed in response to text mining community challenges posed by the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) and BioCreative (2, 3).
Following MUC and ACE, TAC (Text Analysis Conference) began in 2008 and is held annually since then.
