Introduction: Beginning with the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the Internet was a significant additional tool in the education of teenagers. Later, it takes more and more significant role in educating students and professionals. Goal: The aim of this paper is to investigate, to what extent and how effectively the Internet is used today by students of biomedical faculties in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, more specifically, this paper will research the implications of the well-known social networks in education of students and health professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We compared the ratio of using Social networks by students for spreading medical information as basics for health education at medical faculties at 3 universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Results and discussion: The results showed that only 11.6% of professors use Facebook type of social network, 49.3% of them have a profile on BiomedExperts scientific social network and 79% have available articles in the largest biomedical literature database MEDLINE. Students are also frequent users of general social networks and educational clips from You Tube, which they prefer to utilize considerably more than the other types of professionals. Students rarely use the facilities of professional social networks, because they contain mainly data and information needed for further, postgraduate professional education. Conclusion: In B&H there are decent conditions for the use of online social networks in the education of health professionals. While students enthusiastically embraced these opportunities, this is not so much a case with health care professionals in practice; while scientific health care workers have not shown greater interest in the use of social networks, both for purposes of scientific research and in terms of self-education and training of students.

Social network is a social structure made of individuals or organizations associated with one or more types of interdependence (friendship, common interests, work, knowledge, prestige, etc.) which are the “nodes” of the network. Networks can be organized to exchange information, knowledge or financial assistance under the various interest groups in universities, workplaces and associations of citizens. Today the most popular and widely used networks are based on application of the Internet as the main ICT. Depending on the method of connection, their field of activity and expertise of those who participate in certain networks, the network can be classified into the following groups: a) Social Networks with personal physical connectivity (the citizens’ associations, transplant networks, etc.), b) Global social internet network (Facebook, Twitter, Skype), c) specific health internet social network (forums, Health Care Forums, Healthcare Industry Forum), d) The health community internet network of non professionals (DailyStrength, CaringBridge, CarePages, MyFamilyHealth), e) Scientific social internet network (BiomedExperts, ResearchGate, iMedExchange), f) Social internet network which supported professionals (HealthBoards, Spas and Hope Association of Disabled and diabetic Enurgi), g) Scientific medical internet network databases in the system of scientific and technical information (CC, Pubmed/Medline, Excerpta Medica/EMBASE, ISI Web Knowledge, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Social Science Index, etc.). The information in the network are exchanged in real time and in a way that has until recently been impossible in real life of people in the community. Networks allow tens of thousands of specific groups of people performing a series of social, professional and educational activities in the place of living and housing, place of work or other locations where individuals are. Network provides access to information related to education, health, nutrition, drugs, procedures, etc., which gives a special emphasis on public health aspects of information, especially in the field of medicine and health care. The authors of this paper discuss the role and practical importance of social networks in improving the health and solving of health problems without the physical entrance into the health care system. Social networks have their advantages and disadvantages, benefits and costs, especially when it comes to information which within the network set unprofessional people from unreliable sources, without an adequate selection. The ethical aspect of the norms in this segment is still not adequately regulated, so any sanctions for the unauthorized and malicious use of social networks in private and other purposes in order to obtain personal gain at the expense of individuals or groups (sick or healthy, owners of certain businesses and companies, health organizations and pharmaceutical manufacturers, etc.), for which there is still no global or European codes and standards of conduct. Cyber crime is now one of the mostly present types of crime in modern times, as evidenced by numerous scandals that are happening both globally and locally.

Introduction: Idiopathic scoliosis is a significant health problem which occurs in 2%–4% school kids in adolescent age. Reasons of occurrence are not quite clear, there are many theories, but probably it is multifactor disease. Among the theories that are mentioned some of them included environmental and behavioral factors. Aim: Research the impact of some environmental and behavioral factor on development and progression of idiopathic scoliosis in school kids. Methodology: Research was conducted on 421 pupil in adolescent age, where 120 pupils was from urban schools and 301 pupil from rural schools. Environmental factors and habits like the bigger osteomuscular structure mobility at kids from rural schools, longer outdoor time spending, different nutrition, alcoholism and smoking, different obligations, etc. factors which can be cause of scoliosis development. Results: In this research we assumed that different environmental and behavioral factors of school kids, which exist in rural and urban areas, can develop to different expression of scoliosis in these areas. In our research we proved that the scoliosis occurrence is more often in urban areas than in rural (Fisher’s exact test P<0.001). Conclusion: It is necessary to research all factors of lifestyle individually, which are different between the urban and rural kids.

Introduction: Social network is a social structure made up of individuals and organizations that represent “nodes”, and they are associated with one or more types of interdependency; such as: friendship, common interests, work, knowledge, prestige and many other interests. Beginning with the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the Internet was a significant additional tool in the education of teenagers. Later, it takes more and more significant role in educating students and professionals. Goal: The aim of this paper is to investigate, to what extent and how effectively the Internet is used today. In addition, more specifically, this paper will research the implications of the well-known social networks in education of students and health professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Material and methods: We compared the ratio of using Medline, as the largest biomedical data base system for spreading medical information, as basics for health education at biomedical faculties at five universities in B&H. Results and discussion: According to data from the CRA (i.e. Communications Regulatory Agency) in B&H, in 2010, there were 522,364 internet access accounts, with about 2 million Internet users, representing about 52% of the total population. The Internet users’ preference is dominated by the users of fast broadband access (e.g. xDSL) with 42.8%, and elsewhere, still with dialup access, with 25.2%. The results showed that only 11.6% of professors use Facebook type of social network, 49.3% of them have a profile on BiomedExperts scientific social network and 79% have available articles in the largest biomedical literature database MEDLINE. Students are also frequent users of general social networks and educational clips from You Tube, which they prefer to utilize considerably more than the other types of professionals. Students rarely use the facilities of professional social networks, because they contain mainly data and information needed for further, postgraduate professional education. In our research, we analized cited published papers in the journal Medical Archives, the oldest medical journal in B&H (established in 1947) of randomly included 151 full and part time professors, authors from five medical faculties in B&H and B&H authors who currently work in the EU and USA.. ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in the number of articles published between the Universities in Bosnia, but there was significant difference in the number of articles published on MEDLINE, between all faculties in B&H and a group of scientists who work around the world. Students’ tests showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the average number of papers published on Medline, between groups of part-time and full time professors. However, there were no statistically significant differences, between the professors for preclinical and clinical subjects. Conclusion: In B&H there are decent conditions for the use of online social networks in the education of health professionals. While students enthusiastically embraced these opportunities, this is not so much a case with health care professionals in practice; while scientific health care workers have not shown greater interest in the use of social networks, both for purposes of scientific research and in terms of self-education and training of students. There is much more use of the advantages offered by online social networks, both in education and in support of the scientific research.

Advances in medicine in recent decades are in significant correlation with the advances in the information technology. Modern information technologies (IT) have enabled faster, more reliable and comprehensive data collection. These technologies have started to create a large number of irrelevant information, which represents a limiting factor and a real growing gap, between the medical knowledge on one hand, and the ability of doctors to follow its growth on the other. Furthermore, in our environment, the term technology is generally reserved for its technical component. Education means, learning, teaching, or the process of acquiring skills or behavior modification through various exercises. Traditionally, medical education meant the oral, practical and more passive transferring of knowledge and skills from the educators to students and health professionals. For the clinical disciplines, of special importance are the principles, such as, “learning at bedside,” aided by the medical literature. In doing so, these techniques enable students to contact with their teachers, and to refer to the appropriate literature. The disadvantage of these educational methods is in the fact, that teachers often do not have enough time. Additionally they are not very convenient to the horizontal and vertical integration of teaching, create weak or almost no self education, as well as, low skill levels and poor integration of education with a real social environment. In this paper authors describe application of modern IT in medical education – their advantages and disadvantages comparing with traditional ways of education.

Cigarette smoking affects all phases of atherosclerosis from endothelial dysfunction to acute occlusive clinical events. The problem is, whether the length of the period of cigarette smoking has a more reflection to the status of lipids and illnesses of cardiovascular system or the bigger number of smoked cigarettes in a shorter time-period? The observed sample has constituted of two groups of smokers, both gender, age 25-64 years old. The first group consisted of 210 examinees divided in 7 subgroups according to a number of years they have been smoking. The second group consisted of 150 examinees, which was divided in 5 subgroups, according to average number of cigarettes smoked daily. The average values of serum cholesterol (6.98 vs. 6.13 mmol/L), triglycerides (3.15 vs. 3.13 mmol/L) and LDL-cholesterol (3.80 vs. 3.64 mmol/L) were always higher in a group of smokers according to a number of daily smoked cigarettes. Average value of smoking consumption period was higher in a group of smokers according to the length of smoking consumption period than in a group of smokers according to a number of cigarettes smoked daily (20.34 y vs. 13.55 y.). Hypertension (72% vs. 30.9%), angina pectoris (44.6% vs. 20.4%), CHD (30.6% vs. 22.8%) and myocardial infarction (16% vs. 11.4%) appeared much more in the group of smokers according to a number of cigarettes smoked daily. More reflection to the status of lipids and illnesses of cardiovascular system has the bigger number of smoked cigarettes daily than the length of the period of cigarette smoking.

Summary Introduction: In recent decades, the development and improvement of technology is rapidly advancing. The development of science, new materials, information technology, new procedures and other modern achievements were his first confirmation sought to improve living conditions, particularly in achieving better health conditions. In an effort to improve living conditions, solve the problem of severe diseases and to facilitate treatment, new technologies, almost always find its first application in medicine. In such conditions of general pressure of new modern technologies, health professionals often succumb to uncritically use these technologies. Methodology: Analyzing data collected from 30,000 research papers that have done 30 doctors of family medicine and 30 doctors of general medicine, and from interviews conducted with all 60 doctors who participated in the research. Results: a) Teams of family medicine have a significantly higher professional education, and it should be noted that there was no significant difference in length of service of employees; b) Teams of family medicine have significantly less committed population on which the care; c) Teams of family medicine in an average have fewer visits per day than the teams in general medicine; d) Information diagnostic technologies are more accessible to family medicine teams. Conclusion: It is necessary to introduce a technology assessment as a standard scientific methods in decision making and the creation of the health system. In fact, it is necessary to establish and enable institutions to assess health technologies and join the developed world in creating better health care.