Interview Experience

We had the opportunity to visit the Gorgas Memorial Institute, to learn about their structure, IT elements and future plans on this subject. What you are about to read is a quick view of our experience there. 

We were received by two members of the IT department, they were Johny Gonzalez and Gilberto De Leon. We sat on a round table and started discussing their future plans on Information Technology updates on their equipment, as well as the functions and history they have as an institution. 

They explain IT Deparment develops tools that are vital; those elements are the key to the success in the functions of the medical staff this institution has. For example, using a program called Epi Info, which helps to analyze the data they get in field investigations or examining patients. It generates a series of graphs and statistics based on that information. Using this, obviously reduces the time necessary for accomplishing investigations that involve a lot of people, with different characteristics and located all over the country.

One of the immediate questions our team asked, was the budget thing. This insitution executes very important things, however, how much money is it necessary to achieve their goals? They didn't gave us a specific number, but they told us they receive economic support from the government and international organizations, and is a lot of money. They smiled after saying this, a real smile that confirmed us that important changes are being done in the panamanian health system, but we are not aware of them.

Another interesting thing is the institute works as a reference laboratory for others in Panama, such as Raly and others. When those laboratories need to check up their results on any analysis, the place they call is the GMI. It is also for Central America reference, when some country needs a detailed description of a tropical disease, the institute inmediately serves as a reference point. A well-known case, is the AH1N1 disease, which affected several Central America countries. The GMI did the studies that determined which was the strain of the disease, making it easier to elaborate an effective cure and help hundreds of ill patients. The servers and wires that serve as core for the IT functions need to be in a cool enviroment, reason why there is an isolated room where all the sensitive structures are kept with air conditioners in the appropiate temperature.

Equine encephalitis analysis being confirmed by virologists of the GMI. July 2010.

One of the topics was the Information Technology and Telecommunications Panamanian Camera, that is looking forward for the generation of thousands of IT professionals, that are able to work and be updated in this area, avoiding outsourcing the labor of foreigners in future projects. This reality is an indicator of the need of IT preparation in Panama, necessary no only for public health issues, but also for a lot of different activities of daily life, important for our country development.

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