April 9th, 2011 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in News
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One of the beauties of mobile medical education is how quickly you are able to distribute multimedia content, especially if it’s free. This is due to the ubiquitous nature of certain platforms, such as iTunes, on every iOS device — over 120 million of them. These mobile devices have significantly lowered the barrier of entry for medical professionals wishing to reach millions of individuals.
A University of Alberta professor and surgeon, Dr. Jonathan White, decided to make 10 to 30 minute iTunes podcasts of his lecture material in order to reach his students at a different level. His medical students feel the free Podcasts are more captivating, and enable them to consume a greater amount of content when they are short on time:
“When you’re short on time, you have the podcast to rely on in order to get the bulk of information that you need to learn,” said medical student Todd Penny……The podcasts are less dry than reading out of a textbook,” he said. “You have someone talking to you as if you are in a lecture. They try to make it a little more interesting. They add music.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
December 3rd, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
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I just can’t imagine life today as a medical student. Every medical publication in the palm of your hand. The capacity to create an audience and publish at your own will. Real-time dialog between students, faculty, anyone. Global reach from your phone. It’s mind-boggling really.
This is in stark contrast to my experience. My world was centered on index cards, textbooks and pens with different colors. We communicated via Post-it notes on the door of the student lounge. There were no apps and our only game was foozball. As a first year I scheduled time to compose H&Ps on the library’s only Macintosh II computer. This was plugged into the new Apple LaserWriter with WYSIWYG. Hi tech we were. We thought.
Being distractible and restless, I’m going to guess that if I had access to the communication platforms and tools available to today’s students, I might not have made it through. The inputs must be staggering and I imagine that discipline with personal bandwidth has become a critical key to survival. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
December 2nd, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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Medical students today consider lifestyle an essential criteria when choosing a specialty. It’s become a cliche that most are looking towards the ROAD (radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology and dermatology) to happiness.
There’s been some recent media attention at how women are lured to specialties that offer a greater balance between their family lifestyle and professional demands. Claudia Golden, a Harvard economics professor, recently noted that,
high-paying careers that offer more help in balancing work and family are the ones that end up luring the largest numbers of women. Surprisingly, colon and rectal surgery is one of these, because of rapid growth in routine colonoscopies that can be scheduled in advance, giving doctors control over their time. Goldin says 31% of colon and rectal surgeons under 35 years of age were female in 2007, compared with only 3% of those ages 55 to 64, and 12% of those ages 45 to 54, reflecting the fact that younger women are flocking to the field.
Of course, what’s not said is the grueling training that it takes to become a colorectal surgeon — but the numbers cited above do not lie. The new generation of doctors — both men and women — want greater control of their time. That means more shift-work and a predictable call schedule. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
November 22nd, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
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Here’s my [recent] commentary at KevinMD. Let me know what you think. What kind of physicians DO we want for the future?
I was talking with a pre-med student recently. He had completed his very first medical school interview and was, understandably, excited. But he told me the interviewer had asked him what he thought would be the outcome of the current healthcare reform measures.
I laughed to myself. After 17 years in practice, even I don’t know the outcome, though I have my suspicions. It seemed a loaded, almost unfair question. After miring students in biology, physics, chemistry and every known application-padding activity, after expecting volunteerism and activism, I’m not sure why they would expect this young man to have any earthly idea about the reform measures from his current position in the medical biosphere.
But I wondered, since I’m not a medical educator, was there a right answer? And I wondered even more, what do we want in our future physicians? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
November 20th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Humor, Medical Art, News
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A new iPhone/iPad game called “Prognosis: Your Diagnosis” looks like a decent attempt at making clinical case studies into a fun activity. Though it’s not clear how accurate and educational the game really is, the interface and goofy screenshots can certainly provide the foundation on which to deliver great content.
iTunes: Prognosis: Your Diagnosis…
Hat tip: ScienceRoll
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
