From the pioneering use of laptop computers in education to using Sony PlayStation technology for the teaching of operative techniques, the RCSI is well ahead of many other educational institutions in its use of advanced IT.

While the arguments in favour of bringing IT into the classroom are clear and have few opponents, the college had its own reasons for developing this area.

"Because the RCSI is dependent on fee income and is essentially market-driven, it is critical that we are at the forefront of all developments within the education sector," says deputy registrar Michael Horgan. "IT happens to be one of them. So, it has been a specific strategy on our part to develop all areas of IT to the optimum, both from an educational point of view and for business applications."

More than eight years ago Horgan brought forward the proposal to issue laptop computers to every student. "It took two years to develop the proposal to the implementation phase, and we are now in the sixth year of this initiative," he says. "All medical students of the college now have laptops."

To optimise the use of the laptops, the college has developed its own Intranet and has taken a number of steps to facilitate easier access to the Internet. Ethernet cabling has been installed in a number of reader tables within the library. The Ethernet connections provide students, postgraduates and surgical trainees with much higher access speeds.

The objective is to provide the maximum number of connection points in as many public access points throughout the college campus as possible. This has placed additional strains on the network but additional servers, routers and storage resources have been added to our network over the past two years.

In order to improve communications between the St Stephen's Green campus and the teaching hospitals, the college installed a high-speed (2Mb) link to Beaumont Hospital and a separate direct connection has been installed with the Rotunda Hospital. These connections provide all college staff with corporate wide e-mail and desktop access to the research databases available in the library. High speed Internet access is also available.

Teleconferencing facilities have been established in a number of the college's teaching hospitals, allowing students to participate in classes without travelling to the site of the lecture or tutorial. This also saves members of staff and fellows time as they can remain at their hospital site while participating in committee meetings.

"The Internet has provided additional means of delivery of our education programmes, while the Intranet has allowed direct access by students to all the resources of the college," says Michael Horgan. "We envisage students having the capability to order transcripts, letters of good standing, and update their personal details on our student record system. In addition, they will do online examinations, and in all probability, will complete part of their courses online - all but the latter are currently available."

Perhaps the most impressive example of advanced use of IT at the RCSI is the BeST programme - electronic Basic Surgical Training. This Internet based programme offers trainee surgeons a complete programme in basic surgery. Trainees can take the programme in their own time, at their own pace and in their own place.

"Developing BeST, over the past two years, has been a huge learning experience," says Horgan. "In addition, we have created a joint venture company with Intuition Publishing, Harvard Medical International - part of the Harvard Medical School, and International Investments and Underwriting (IIU) - Dermot Desmond's investment company."

The BeST programme will play a key role in future developments and the use of pocket computers or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) by students is being planned.

"Our vision of the future includes adding to the experience we have gained from BeST and applying it to undergraduate teaching," he says. "In addition, we plan a modification of the laptop initiative, by including a PDA for use by clinical students.

"We have sourced a programme, optimised for PDAs, which will assist students in learning how to reach a diagnosis, as well as giving detailed background information on the patient's illness. This programme can be updated through a Web connection from their laptops."

PERHAPS the most exciting development from a purely technological point of view is the use of technologies with which fans of computer games are very familiar. "In surgery, we are looking at ways in which Sony PlayStation technology can be used in teaching trainee surgeons various operative techniques - in a similar way to pilots learning in simulators," says Horgan.

"The development of our IT resources continues to be a major priority for the college. The rapid changes in the architecture, delivery systems, and the expectations of students and trainees, highlight the need for the continuing expansion of facilities."