Providing the population with information about health, in the most diverse areas, to prevent the Portuguese from resorting to unreliable sources when they have any doubts about their health status, is the main objective of the Qlinic online platform, created by 5th year students of the Integrated Masters in Medicine (MIM) at the University of Algarve.
This new service, which has been online for about two weeks, is free and has the voluntary collaboration of around 150 health professionals from different areas, from general medicine to different medical specialties, but also dentists, nutritionists, nurses and psychologists, among others.
The project was presented yesterday, the 6th, during the visit of Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science and Higher Education, and Jamila Madeira, Secretary of State for Health, to Estádio Algarve, to learn about the results of the serological screening carried out by Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) and the Champalimaud Foundation.
This presentation featured five of the 15 students involved in the project: Shafik Norali, Jaime Inglez Nelson Carvalho, Rita Lopes and Rui Oliveira.
According to Nelson Carvalho, Qlinic has the general objective of «answering the doubts that the Portuguese have about health», preventing them from resorting to unreliable sites and going after fake news related to health.
The creators are keen to point out that this "is not a Covid-19 platform". In fact, the doubts raised by the approximately 250 people who have already benefited from Qlinic were, "mostly, not Covid".
As for how it works, everything is very simple: the citizen access the platform, asks your question, filling out a form, and "in a short time, you will have your answer", personalized and made to measure.
With this, in addition to keeping the population well informed and preventing people from resorting to unreliable information, it is possible to “decongest and optimize our health systems”.
From the outset, this site helps to relieve the SNS24 line, preventing people from overloading this service. On the other hand, it will make a contribution so that there are "less consultations and fewer visits to emergencies", believe its promoters.
The difference between this and other online pages that ask questions about health is that, on Qlinic, “all answers are personalized. We don't have a FAQ section, each case is different», say the platform's creators.
On the other hand, there is an interaction component between citizens and students who manage the platform and serve as intermediaries between users and health professionals who collaborate with the project.
That is, despite not having access to the medical history of the person asking the question, MIM students ask the questions they consider necessary, before advising them.
Until now, it has been possible to give an answer to the questions asked “in three or four hours.
Manuel Heitor, who did not spare MIM students many questions about the project, applauded the initiative and even took the opportunity to play. «Whenever I come here to the Algarve, there are new things. I'm always waiting to see what's new (laughs)».
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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