By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

Published 10/27/2004 10:47 AM
CHICAGO, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A medical student makes his rounds, examining the lacerated foot of a patient, checking in on a newborn baby and visiting with a 90-year-old grandmother. It is a longstanding tradition in the study of medicine -- except this student performs all the tasks with a few simple mouse clicks. What has been done for generations in a hospital setting now is being done on the Internet. Today's medical students are learning to practice medicine on simulated patients, before they ever place a stethoscope on the chest of a real, live cardiac patient."The future is bright for simulations in medical school," Dr. Kate Worzala, co-director of the Jefferson Medical College clinical skills center, a part of Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, told UPI's The Web. --The Web is a weekly series by UPI examining the global telecommunications phenomenon known as the World Wide Web. E-mail sciencemail-AT-upi.com