The idea brought up in class of telemedicine was so neat in my opinion. I think that the possibilities for how helpful that could be for patients are endless. Imagine not having to go through all the hastle when you have something like the flu or a cold, and need an antiobiotic, to just be able to e-mail or speak with your physician on the phone to obtain the appropriate antibiotic or whatever treatment is necessary. It seems that the cost of primary care could greatly be decreased through the use of this strategy. I have a story somewhat related to this. When I first got to Greece I was taking an antibiotic for an infection I had, and had used this antibiotic many times and had gotten to the point where I could recognize exactly when I had an infection and what I needed to take to get rid of it. A few weeks later, the infection came back and I knew that I needed to get the antibiotic again, only this time take it for a longer period of time to ensure the infection went away completely this time. Well, being the American I am, I went immediately to the local doctor and explained my symptoms and what medication I needed, and he wrote my prescription and I paid him 50 Euros. Well, then I went to the pharmacy and got this prescription (with much hastle because he didn't speak English and the doctor hadn't written down what I needed in Greek). When I came back and talked to the directors of the program (who were themselves Greek) they laughed that I had went to the doctor at all. Apparently in Europe, you do not need a prescription to go to the pharmacy to get drugs. If you know what you need, you just go there and get it. Thus, all those times we Americans know exactly what we have and know exactly what they are going to prescribe to us, we have to sit there anyway, wasting all that time and money, where in Greece they just skip that unnecessary step. This telemedicine idea just seemed like a move towards the system in Greece, and it just makes sense to me. Of course this system in reliant on the fact that trust has been established between you and your primary physician.