Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about that? A TEDx talk.

Brian Goldman is an emergency-room physician in Toronto, and the host of CBC Radio’s "White Coat, Black Art." 

His talk at TEDx in Toronto has just been posted here.  The title is "Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about that?" In it he talks about the personal shame of mistakes in medicine and how it is preventing health care workers from being open and honest about medical errors. 

Dr Goldman calls for the creation of a "redefined medical culture" that teaches and learns from those mistakes.  He says it would be a culture that accepts any system run by humans will contain errors because humans make mistakes. He says the system itself needs to have backup built into it to reduce those errors, including open discussion of mistakes.

The talk is only 20 minutes and worth the time.

The Research Works Act - How would it effect you?

On December 16, 2011, a new bill, "The Research Works Act" (HR 3699) was introduced by Representatives Issa (R-CA) and Maloney (D-NY) and referred to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The bill would roll back the NIH Public Access Policy and block the development of similar policies at other federal agencies. The complete action alert can be found here.

The Alliance for Taxpayer Access has posted information about the representatives to contact in the House regarding the Research Works Act.

Call to action: Oppose H.R. 3699, a bill to block public access to publicly funded research and;

Draft letter to oppose H.R. 3699

Finding Information Online Can Change Your Mind!

Every year American Medical News, from the AMA, publish what they consider the most "intriguing medical facts" of the previous year.  You can see the whole article here with links back to the original stories.

The one I found most intriguing is "63% of doctors say they have changed an initial diagnosis based on new information found online."

The original article states, "Forty-six percent of the surveyed physicians said they frequently use search engines such as Google or Yahoo, and 32% said they occasionally use them. But they also use other online resources, such as free online services like WebMD or MayoClinic.com (42% frequently, 34% occasionally), and online subscription services (36% frequently, 31% occasionally)."  (Emphasis mine)
 
You can add to your collection of online resources at the Health Sciences Library. 
 
Check out our new mobile interface with link to resources like Dynamed and MDConsult for your device, look over our long list of databases with links to fulltext online, or go straight to our e-journals and e-books!
 

Online Resources for Nurses and Nursing Students

Did you hear about the Whistle Blower case in Texas?

Two nurses reported a doctor and found themselves attacked for their actions. He got his friends, the county sheriff and the county attorney, to bring charges as a way of harassing the women.  Recently the doctor pled guilty to 1 count each of misuse of official information and retaliation. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and fined $5000. And he surrendered his state medical license effective November 11.

I found out how this all ended through Medscape Nurses, a free online resource.  I knew about Medscape but didn't know there was a specific section with a nursing perspective.

I also learned that nurses are using more mobile devices because I follow IMedicalApps on the my rss reader.  If you are interested in know what new apps are out there for your device and what is happening with mobile healthcare resources it's a great site to bookmark or you can sign up for their email list or add them to your rss feed.

Nursing Research, another blog , pointed me to the new guidelines  for social media published by the American Nurses Association with this post.  Later there was a whole article of tips on how to get published in the nursing literature.

Lastly, I read a very interesting article on Virtual Nurses in hospitals from Technology Review.  Now not only can nurses use computers and technology, they can be recreated (but not replaced!) by technology!

Have fun looking at what is out there on the wonder world of the internet!

All UMDNJ Health Sciences Students! NEJM is looking for your insightful view of Social Media and Health

Have you been thinking about how social media is changing medicine?

The New England Journal of Medicine is looking for Health Sciences students to answer the following question is an essay to celebrate their 200th anniversary.

"In the last twenty years, the internet and social networking have brought profound changes in how information is communicated. How can we harness this technology to improve health?"

Only medical students or others in training for health-related professions (e.g., nursing students, physical therapy students, PhD candidates, and others), post-graduates still in training programs or college students interested in a career in the health professions are eligible to enter.

You can write a 500 word essay, a 500 word essay with an image or go multi-media with a video or other media response to the essay question that clocks in under 2 minutes.

All winners will be invited to the NEJM 200th anniversary symposium Friday June 22, 2012 held in Boston. In addition 3 NEJM Platinum Scholars will receive a travel award in the amount of $1,000 and 30 NEJM Gold Scholars will receive a travel award in the amount of $500

For more information go to http://www.nejm.org/page/nejm-anniversary-essay-contest

The contest starts at 12:00 noon EST December 1, 2011 and closes after 600 have been received.

Theses & Dissertation Collection

The Library receives copies of all Theses and Dissertations from students in the Stratford programs of the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Records for the these works are included in the University Libraries online catalog. New acquisitions are listed in the Stratford Library's "New Books" announcements on our website.

Library Renovations Have Been Completed

During the past year, plans were developed to make the Library space more useful and usable for our students, faculty and staff. The Library’s space renovations have now been completed. Additional seating for 38 people has been added, bringing the total number of seats to approximately 170. Shelving units were removed, providing areas for study space. Access to electrical power has been extended to all new tables and carrels. A quiet study room was created by transforming the former photocopy room into a space better suited to student needs. Study tables and chairs from the 3rd floor of the Academic Center were re-located to the Library and, with the addition of partitions and electrical outlets, became carrel-like, individual study spaces.


The result of these changes has been an increase in the number of students studying and working in the Library. A dearth of access to electricity is a major issue at all academic libraries. The addition of electrical power where it was previously unavailable has been a great boon for our students. We're very excited to have the Library filled with students and look forward to offering new services and resources for their use.