TransWeb
Aired February 26 and 27, 2000
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This is Internet On The Air. I'm Joan Silvi. How can the medical
community use the Web to educate patients, their families, and the public, as well as
combat medical myths and misconceptions? Details in a moment.
Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan
School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation.
Have you considered filling out an organ donor card or telling your family you'd like to
donate your organs? If you have questions and concerns you'd like to address before making
such a decision, you can turn to TransWeb.org for the answers. Started five years ago by
practitioners at the University of Michigan Medical Center, TransWeb seeks to educate both
potential donors and transplant recipients about the process of donating and receiving
organs.
Dr. Bob Merion, a founding member of the TransWeb board, says one of the most important
tasks of the site is to provide truthful information about myths that surround organ
donation. Visitors to the site can take a quiz to test their knowledge or check out the
Reference Desk. TransWeb has researched and compiled an extensive list of articles,
newsletters, websites, and more, with information about transplant centers, personal
narratives, and support groups.
The Web has also made it easier to spread the word about the World Transplant Games, an
Olympics- type event that celebrates the success of transplantation and encourages organ
donation. It isn't covered by the major TV networks, but thanks to TransWeb, you can watch
the competition via the Internet. Last year's Games took place in Budapest, Hungary, and
people around the world tuned into the webcasts at the TransWeb site.
For more information about transplant and other health information on the Web, and to hear
an interview with Bob Merion, visit our website at www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air,
I'm Joan Silvi.
Top of Page
Related Links
For further information, try these Web sites:
- TransWeb offers a number of
resources for transplant patients, their families, and potential donors.
- Learn all about organ donation in the
United States from this site, created by the US Health Resources and Services
Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Doctors have been trying for decades to create a viable, artificial heart. Explore the
companion website to NOVA's
Electric Heart program, which aired in December, 1999.
- Check out this IOTA show from last year, about health information on the
Web
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The Interview
IOTA interviewed Bob Merion in February 2000.
What do you provide at the TransWeb site?
How do you find and judge the quality of external
donation and transplantation resources to which you link to on the site?
How did TransWeb begin?
What is the goal of TransWeb?
Have you achieved your goals?
Has the direction of the site changed over the
past 5 years?
Has anything surprised you in how the site has
been received?
What has been most personally fulfilling to you
about working with TransWeb?
Where has the site been most effective or had the
biggest impact?
What do people want or need to know about organ
donation and transplants when they come to TransWeb?
Are there areas where you have plans to branch
out?
What's it take to be an organ donor?
Can you talk a little about the Gift of Life?
Please direct questions or comments to iota.webmaster@umich.edu.
Last Updated February 25, 2000
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