Teleconference Network of Texas team members are (left to right) Susie Quintana, distance education specialist; Cindy Rodriguez, marketing coordinator; and JoAnn Lopez, administrative secretary.
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By Rosanne Fohn

Whether they work in Canada, a military base in Korea or a small town in rural South Texas, more than 2,000 health professionals throughout the world have taken advantage of continuing education and training courses over the past year offered by the Teleconference Network of Texas (TNT).

TNT, part of Information Management Services in The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has been offering continuing education and training courses since 1971, and this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.

The network began as a series of two-hour therapeutics seminars for students, faculty, house staff and practicing physicians in the new School of Medicine, before there was a UT Health Science Center San Antonio. As an experiment, the seminars were transmitted simultaneously to five community hospitals in a 60-mile radius. Over the years, the network of presenters and participants grew and the technology advanced to offer teleconferences. Presently, TNT offers courses through webinars.

Exposure to leading experts
Leading experts from such institutions as Harvard, the Mayo Clinic and the UT Health Science Center present the webinars, which are accredited by national credentialing agencies. A dedicated chaplain from Australia even rose at 2 a.m. to give a presentation to colleagues during their workdays in other parts of the world.

“We are pleased to be providing educational seminars from outstanding presenters in their fields, some of whom would ordinarily be commanding a high honorarium. They participate through TNT because they prefer to offer their expertise through an academically based seminar group,” said Ken Andrews, Ph.D., deputy director of Academic Technology Services.

The continuing education webinars are offered to health professionals in various fields, such as diabetes, social work, hospital chaplaincy, blood banking, microbiology and the clinical laboratory sciences.

Webinars make continuing education more affordable
Val Hadwen coordinates the webinars at her institution, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital in Alberta, Canada. The hospital is located in an urban center in the southeast region of the province on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River. “Medicine Hat Regional Hospital library staff have been working with the UT Health Science Center for several years and have the highest regard for the educational products they offer and the people who deliver them,” she said.

“The benefits of accessing employee education through TNT are phenomenal. Rather than have staff members travel to access training opportunities, the programs are set up in or very near the departments in which they are needed,” she said. “This saves time and travel expenses and contributes to the maintenance of a relaxed and efficient workplace.”

Become a presenter
Susie Quintana, distance education specialist with TNT, said, “We are always looking for new presenters and hot topics to keep our webinars fresh and relevant.” About one-tenth of the presenters are from the Health Science Center, and faculty are encouraged to contact TNT about presenting relevant topics and to suggest expert presenters they have seen at state and national meetings.

For more information about TNT, visit http://tnt.uthscsa.edu or call 210-567-2700.