SAO PAULO, Brazil—Imagine arriving for a medical appointment at a clinic where no one knows your health history or what treatments you've received in the past, and where your records consist of a couple lines written by hand.

On the campus of the University of Santo Amaro (UNISA) in Sao Paulo, a clinic was established several years ago to bring free health care to the poorest members of the local population. Students studying physiotherapy deliver health care and work to prevent disease under the supervision of faculty members. It's a popular service. Last year, the clinic counted some 32,000 patient visits.

But keeping track of appointments has been decidedly low tech. "Until now, the appointments have been made in a simple notebook," says Ademar Pocaterra Filho, a teacher in the computation program.

In order to bring the medical records up to date, university departments of physiotherapy and computation have teamed up to create a patient database. "The students will develop software which will supply the information necessary for storage," explains Pocaterra Filho. The informatics database will record "basic information," such as the patient's name and other personal information, age, diagnostic information, and so forth. "This way, we will be giving a step for the 'informatization' of the sector," with the goal of tracking the organization and order of appointments. "This partnership allows integration between two areas, promoting the interdisciplinary work so important in this era of globalization."

For students studying computation, the project allows for the real-world application of technology "and not just the theory of database learned in the classroom." For students of physiotherapy, the project enables them "to use, with ampler knowledge, the intranet."

Future plans call for developing a system to store images of the patient, which can be used for patient care as well as for teaching. "Teachers and students could make use of these data for illustration of lessons or academic works, making available for the academic community significant data for learning, practice, and therapeutic work."

The computation teacher uses two computers, along with a technology lab. Filho says that many of the computation students attend night classes "and are between low and very low social level," while the physiotherapy students tend to have more resources. The database project has brought the two campuses together. It has unfolded "with no financial resources, only the good will of the teachers and the students."