Why do Doctors Get Involved in Leadership?
Why do Doctors Get Involved in Leadership?
Toby Hillman reflects on this question in his recent post to the BMJ Group Blog. As medical students and future physicians, you will each have to answer this question for yourselves.
"It is a useful exercise to take a step out of your comfort zone, and really examine the driving force behind your attitudes, and actions. It is not something that we as clinicians are often comfortable doing ..."
I invite you to click on the link and read the full posting.
Labels: BMJ, leadership, motivation, professionalism, role of physician
Third year UMHS-SK medical student,
Kristin Riggs, puts a little heart back into the practice of medicine.
"For Jose" is a moving, personal narrative published this month in
"Family Medicine" Journal ~
[Vol.44,No.1 Jan 2012] . Ms. Riggs will no doubt have many more similar patient encounters as she embarks on her chosen career as a family physician, but this one with Jose, she has generously shared with all of us.
"In just a split second, his eyes told me more than any doctor or procedure had told me that day; he was scared, he was alone, and there was nothing he could do about it."
Thanks Kristin for holding Jose's hand!
Please take a few minutes to read this precious experience! Click on the link to the TOC's for the latest issue [January 2012], and scroll down to the article.
Labels: care of the patient, family medicine, medical students, patient-physician communication
Some humorous medical acronyms and abbreviations to add to your repertoire, impress your relatives, wow your friends, and fool your enemies! But what will it do for your patients?
Gathered by
MediLexicon from actual hospital notes. Do you have some to add to their list?
Labels: medical abbreviations, medical acronyms, medical humour, Medilexicon
Ghost Productions built this medical animation to showcase their capabilites at the 2009 Association of Orthopedic Surgeons conference in Las Vegas.
Heal - Animated Trauma from Ghost Productions on Vimeo.
They created a character animation, broke nearly every bone in his body, and then surgically repaired him in under 3 minutes. Amazing!
Labels: Ghost Productions, medical animation, orthopedic surgery
Congratulations on the Completion of Another Sucessful Semester!
On behalf of all of us here in the Library, it has been a pleasure having you with us and serving your information needs over this past semester.
Have a wonderful relaxing semester break everyone & return refreshed and ready to tackle the next chapter!
Please be diligent about
personally returning all borrowed materials to the library
before you leave island ~ your cooperation is greatly appreciated!
Of course donations to the library of any used books you no longer need, or can't fit in your suitcase, will gladly be given a new home!
For those students transitioning on, we hope to hear good news of your future successes as you continue to travel the road ahead.
All the best from the Library Ladies!
Recently in London, a UK Publishers Association in partnership with the University of Greewich, held a one day conference entitled
‘Students at the Heart of the System: How to fulfill their learning needs?’.A panel of students was afforded the opportunity to register their take on the academic
'textbook'.
Note some comments and expectations voiced by the Student Forum: "Too much information – students are often overwhelmed by the amount of information, across a variety of formats... Although access to information is important, the critical skills to analyse and filter are greatly in demand."
"There is an overwhelming need for information analysis skills."
"Most students recognised that a mixture of formats is necessary or even desirable."
"Students would love, shorter chapters, chapter summaries, key learning points, revision aids etc."
"Because of the cost of their education, students expect their learning resources to be made available by their institutions/ libraries – and think most of them should be free. They should also be available in any format they can."
Click on the post title to read the report published
November 21, 2011 in the
"Information Today: Europe Blog"
.
Labels: academic textbooks, consumer preferences, ebooks, epublishing, learning resources, opinion of students, publishing industry, publishing news, resource format, student panel, United Kingdom
The
European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has published a literature review providing an overview of online health information-seeking behaviour among European adults from the perspective of both the
health consumer and the
health professional.
Note some highlights from the report:
"..the wealth of information available [on the Internet] means that ‘healthcare professionals are increasingly finding that they have more information available than they can handle with confidence in their busy time schedules’ and ‘the hardest task now is to actually locate the information required from the flood of information received’. The literature also highlights the difficulty of identifying and filtering the most useful, accurate and credible sources while searching online for health information."
"In a study in the
British Medical Journal, researchers also found that,
out of 26 medical situations investigated 'Google searches found the correct diagnoses in 15 of the cases’", calling for caution if using Google (or any other general internet search engine) to search for a diagnosis.
Click on the post title for access to the 12 page PDF:
"Literature review on health information-seeking behaviour on the web: a health consumer and health professional perspective" ~ ECDC Technical reports(Oct 2011).
Labels: credibility of information, ECDC, information literacy, information seeking behaviour, internet users research, medical information search
New research from the
Blacksmith Institute (an environmental health group based in New York City) and their partners
The Green Cross Switzerland, has identified the
ten worst toxic pollution problems facing the world today. Their research shows that mercury, lead, chromium and other toxic compounds, used in many industrial processes,
rob years of healthy life from millions of people each year. Yet the group maintains there are simple fixes that could go far in solving the issue.
Click on the post title to read more by
David Biello | November 10, 2011 |
Scientific American or download the full report from
WorstPolluted.org.
.
Labels: chrominum, effects on health, environmental health, global health, lead, medical research, mercury, pollution, toxic pollution, toxicology
"Every day there are news reports of new health advice, but how can you know if they're right?"
Ben Goldacre: Battling bad science | Video on TED.comBen Goldacre writes
"Bad Science" ~
"unpicking dodgy scientific claims and showing us how medical evidence can be distorted". Enjoy his latest video critique from
TED.com [14 minutes].
Labels: health news, medical news, medical research, news reporting, research bias, research methods, scientific studies
While federal incentive dollars are trying to work to encourage hospitals and other health care organizations to use electronic health record systems (EHRs), without much prompting, healthcare providers are showing themselves eager adopters of medical "apps". A recent survey of 4,000 physicians in the US found that nearly 80 percent use smartphones, while among the general population only 28 percent use smartphones. Another report estimates that by 2012 about half of physicians who have smartphones will use them in their work for administrative functions, research, and patient care.
"Nineteen percent of physicians use a tablet personal computer in their work, while 69 percent said they are likely to do so in the next few years. Only 5 percent of the U.S. population owns a tablet."
Click on the post title to read the full
Quality Matters newsletter article from
The Commonwealth Fund.
Labels: electronic medical records, EMR, healthcare information technology, healthcare technology, medical apps, mobile medicine, trends in healthcare
"Among the most beautiful and sought after objects of antiquity are the books and manuscripts created hundreds of years ago, and carefully preserved in libraries."
For those of us unable, or unwilling to wait to travel to the
British Library or the
National Library of Medicine; a handful of exquisite classics from the historical biomedical literature may now be explored virtually!
Click on the post title to begin your journey by scrolling through
The Edwin Smith Papyrus,
"the world’s oldest surviving surgical text,..written in Egyptian hieratic script around the 17th century BCE, but probably based on material from a thousand years earlier. The papyrus is a textbook on trauma surgery, and describes anatomical observations and the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of numerous injuries in exquisite detail."
Labels: British Library, classical medical literature, Edwin Smith papyrus, medical history, National Library of Medicine, Turning the Pages
PLEASE NOTE: The USMLE program have made adjustments to their rules regarding the retaking of the USMLE. The following is a quick overview of the changes that will go into effect on
January 1, 2012.
"Starting January 1, 2012, examinees will be limited in the amount of times they can retake the USMLE within a calendar year. The following rules will apply to applications submitted before this date.
Examinees will be limited to:
4 attempts within a 12 month period for USMLE Step 1, 2 CK and 3.
3 attempts within a 12 month period for Step 2 CS.
For applications submitted on or after January 1, 2012, examinees will be limited to:
3 attempts within a 12 month period.
A 4th attempt must be at least 12 months after the first attempt and at least 6 months after the most recent attempt.
Examinees should take into consideration that their eligibility periods may be adjusted as necessary to fulfill these rules."
[extracted from AMSA's Test Prep Corner]Labels: AMSA, ECFMG, Test Prep, test taking rules, USMLE
The 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference: Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action, Bahamas, November 18-21, 2011 The conference goal is to sharpen the focus on HIV in the Caribbean, the region with the world's second highest adult HIV prevalence. In 2008, approximately 240,000 people in the region were living with HIV, 20,000 new infections occurred, and 12,000 deaths resulted from AIDS-related illnesses (UNAIDS).
Click on post title to link to the conference website.Labels: Caribbean, HIV/AIDS, medical conference
Christopher Snowbeck for
Pioneer Press recently authored an interesting article called
"Vital signs strong for 3M's stethoscope business". [09/23/2011]
The article gathers some interesting observations regarding this iconic diagnostic tool:
"If you ask anybody walking down the street - 'What is the one piece of equipment that identifies someone as a physician?' - easily 90 percent will say it's the stethoscope."
Yet "Cardiac auscultation - the technical term for using a stethoscope to hear heart sounds and make diagnoses - is 'a skill in decline' lamented heart experts writing last year in the British Journal of Cardiology."
"I would say there's definitely been a reduction in the amount of training for auscultation," said Dr. Robert Wilson, a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota. "But at the same time, it's also probably less important. We have all these other tests now."
However it seems the manufacturers of stethoscopes are not about to go away quietly, but point to their newer electronic stethoscopes, and a long line of other innovations designed to make the classic doctor's tool more functional than ever.
Click on post title then search website to retrieve full article .Labels: auscultation, cardiac auscultation, diagnostic tests, diagnostic tools, health technology, heart sounds, stethoscopes
Some interesting statistical projections for the next ten years came out during a recent panel discussion held at the annual conference in Chicago of the
Association of Staff Physician Recruiters. Here are a few highlights:
"By 2020, there is expected to be a shortage of 91,500 physicians — 45,400 primary care and 46,100 subspecialists — in the United States..."
"By 2019, the number of physicians reaching retirement age is expected to more than double, compared to 2009."
"Medical school enrollment is projected to increase 40 percent by 2015, compared to 2002, according to AAMC data. More medical schools are expected to open across the country, and growth in non-U.S. based medical schools enrolling U.S. students (such as Caribbean-based institutions) also influence this increase."
"...the number of residency and fellowship slots actually grew nearly 18 percent between 2000 and 2009..."
Read the full news report from the Becker Hospital Review by clicking on the post title. Labels: medical students, physician shortage, statistics, United States
Enjoy Your Summer Semester Break!
As another semester draws to a close, the
Library Staff would like to say
'good-bye' and
'all the best' to those students who are moving onward and upward! It has been a sincere pleasure serving you all over this past semester, and we look forward to hearing of your continued success!
With the semester end, also comes
the time to return all your checked out items to the library and settle your accounts. We very much appreciate your full and prompt cooperation.
Every semester, both students and faculty generously donate materials to the library. Please accept our gratitude and thanks!
All donations are very much appreciated!
During the semester break the Library will be
CLOSED from
Saturday August 20th until Monday August 29.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
We will reopen
Monday August 29 until
Friday September 2 between the hours of
8am~6pm, and CLOSED Saturday & Sunday ~ Sept 3 & 4. Normal library hours will resume
Monday September 5th.
Labels: library hours, library materials, semester break
Pathology Professor Generously Donates to the University's Library
The
Anne Ross Library wishes to sincerely thank
Dr. Robert Fogel , Chair of Pathology, for the generous donation of more than 60 medical reference books. You will notice as you come into the library, we have relocated the
Reference Collection to the shelves next to the
'Course Notes' in order to accommodate this valuable donation. The anatomical models have moved into the old reference shelves.
From all of us at the Library, we wish to say,
"Enjoy your retirement Dr. Fogel!"
You will be sincerely missed by all on campus!
Labels: Anne Ross Library, donation, Dr. Robert Fogel, medical reference books
Lunch & Learn: Sickle Cell Disease
All students and faculty are invited to join us for this special
"Lunch & Learn" event! Our guest speaker is a renowned
Hematologist and expert on Sickle Cell Disease.
Dr. Adebayo Olujohungbe, whose current work is in cancer research, has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in the field of Hematology, a book on Sickle Cell Disease, as well as research articles on Multiple Myeloma.
Bring your lunch, learn and ask questions about the pathophysiology and manifestations of this disease.See you all Wednesday August 3 at 12:00 (NOON)
in the Auditorium! 
Labels: Dr. Adebayo Olujohungbe, guest lecture, hematology, lunch event, pathophysiology, sickle cell disease
Did you know that
DynaMed has recorded
nine "Practice-Changing Updates" already this morning? Yesterday, DynaMed posted
21 updates!
Never before has the saying
"If you stand still you will be left behind" been more true than in the world of 21st century medicine.
How can you keep pace and truely provide current, best, evidence-based practice? One method is to take advantage of DynaMed's
"Recent Updates" page (notice the second link on left in the top navigation bar), which provides a view of the most recent articles added to DynaMed summaries.
◦DynaMed is updated daily through a 7-step evidence-based method for systematic literature surveillance so clinicians can find the best available evidence at the point of care. DynaMed topics provide synthesized summaries integrating new evidence with existing evidence to directly answer most clinical questions in a single source.
Check out DynaMed's new interface while you are there.If you need more help accessing DynaMed come and see us in the Library for your EBSCO login and/or your mobile access code.
Labels: DynaMed, evidence-based medicine, evidence-based practice, staying current
