Link to National Breast Cancer Resource Centre
I just wanted to post a heads up for Australian doctors to check out the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer resource centre, which publishes summaries of recent research into breast and ovarian cancer. They are available as PDF download, and are an excellent source of up to date treatment recommendations. I base all my breast cancer summaries on these guidelines - more up to date than textbooks and easier to track than journal review articles
What online research and clinical practice guidelines do you follow? Post links to your favourite resources in the comments.
Technology can save lives
>Thanks to DrVal for providing this cartoon by way of a guest post. She is currently blogless and is taking a round the world blog tour. Look out for Val at a medblog near you!
Simple statistics for the Mac Masses
Despite being a enrolled post-graduate student at an accredite university, it seems I have trouble accessing a statistics program. We have a number of licenses to SPSS, but it is installed on other people’s computers, which are fine if they can log me in, and leave their desk for an hour or so.
Buying the license to a stats program just isn’t worth it - these things run to hundreds of dollars. There are three viable solutions for Mac
High tech nerdy bots
R is an open source stats program. However, it has a maths inteface, and is not a simple solution for the casual user. I include it here because it is apparently excellent, if you can be bothered figuring out how to use it.
Online statistics solutions
Statcrunch is an online tool, which offers a cheap subscirption service. you can import your results by importing a spreadsheet, or by pasting data into the java form. Most basic stats analysis tools are available, but they are a little kludgy. Results can be saved into your statcrunch account, for later reference. They can also be exported as an image, or even copied to your clipboard.
And the winner is… Plainstat
By far the best solution I have found is a fabulous free application, Plainstat. This is a very simple program, but it caters to most “check-up” stats I need on a regular basis.
It includes :
There are few user interface issues, like you have to manually insert rows before you can paste in data to avoid truncation. However, all outputs are saved with the data for easy reference. Cut and paste to another program is difficult, unless you export the results to a text file first. Despite these limitations, this program is one I have come to rely on.
If you do any basic data work, and know your way around a t test (there are no extensive help files in this one) I encourage you to check out Plainstat.
Do you have any other options for stats on the Mac? Please share your solutions in the comments. And I would love anyone who uses R to write a guest post explaining it to the rest of us…
20 ways Surgeons should use Evernote
I have previously raved about how useful Evernote is in medical research. It is also a great resource for doctors. EfficientMD has already posted a series on using Evernote in a medical practice, including suggestions for using it as a Electronic Health Record. I would like to extend these ideas, and provide some surgeon-specific recommendations.
To recap, Evernote is an online repository for images, notes and PDFs. It is accessible from the web, a desktop client and the iPhone. All notes, PDFs and images are catalogued and can be searched, including text in images.
- Photograph your operation notes.
Many surgeons dictate operative notes at the end of the day. A photograph of the written operation notes (with diagrams) will help with dictation, particularly if you have a long list of similar cases.
- Remember your colleagues’ preferences.
If you assist in surgery regularly, it is useful to remember the draping, equipment and sequence preferences of your colleagues. Keep a summary in your Evernote account for quick reference before theatre.
- Record prosthesis numbers.
When prostheses are used, the numbers are recorded in the patient’s notes. However, it can be useful to keep this information yourself, in case there is a recall. A text note including the prosthesis number, the patient number and the date means it will be searchable.
- Remember procedure and disease codes.
In Australia, procedure or billing codes are noted on each operating record. Keep a list of your frequent codes in your Evernote account, and you will no longer be troubled by an out of date code-book.
- Keep your favourite request forms.
Pathologists have a vital relationship with surgeons. Don’t miss using your trusted colleague through lack of stationary.
Fixing people
- Differentiate your look-alikes.
Ever had a couple of Eric Smith’s on your service? With their consent, take a photo and tag it with their URL. Then it is is easy to figure out which one has which results.
- Keep patient information handouts accessible.
Don’t get stuck at outpatients without a copy of your favourite patient information or consent hand out. Access the PDFs on the web and print them out to keep your patients informed.
- Keep up to date treatment regimes.
Other medical services regularly interact with surgery, but it is difficult to keep up with the best practices of other disciplines. Rather than stumbling over chemotherapy details or physiotherapy plans, keep a text note with you, so you can refer to the details.
- Remember the scoring systems.
Many doctors only use one or two severity scores, as it is difficult to remember the details of most others. Remember them, note them in patient records, and benefit.
- Remember protocol details.
Some hospitals have pathways or protocols for certain diseases or procedures. Keeping the protocols with you will let you double check what has been covered.
Keeping track of the paperwork
- Keep your rosters accessible.
Sometimes you need to access the original roster, and not the details you jotted into your diary. Evernote makes it possible, without increasing you paper load.
- Keep patient demographics, in a pinch. Although you probably have another system for keeping track of patient information, sometimes it breaks down. A test note, or a photograph of a patient label will support your main system.
- Photograph or scan business cards.
I always tend to toss out the business card that annoying pharma/equipment rep gave me, but then need it later to get them to talk me through their new mesh/glue/tube-like object. Keep it for ever, and keep it searchable. Remember to tag the photo with the product they were selling.
- Keep track of your junior staff.
Surgical residents, interns and students switch jobs regularly. If you are likely to be called on for feedback in the future, snap a photo of each staff member, label it with their name and file it. (Because we don’t always remember the boring ones.)
Learning the ropes
- Keep your anatomy lists.
Anatomy is tough to remember. When you want to look something up, make sure you have your summaries, lists or atlas images synced to Evernote.
- Surgical lists.
There are about three million surgical lists to remember, mostly tedious. Evernote will remind you of the obscure causes of pancreatitis.
Keeping up with the evidence
- Save your review articles.
EfficientMD suggested this one. Keep a copy of you best evidence in your Evernote account, and you will be able to refer to it, or prove your point to that ornery surgeon in your Unit. No more “look it up, it was published this year in Annals..” Read more about this tip here.
- Keep contents of your favourite journals.
Set up a mail rule to send your Table of Content alerts directly to Evernote. Then a search will remind you of relevant articles, published in the journals you trust.
Use your iPhone for good.
- Take quick notes in lectures.
Evernote for iPhone is not a perfect platform for note-taking. But it beats the Notes client, or bringing notepaper everywhere. Jot a few short notes from conversations or keynote presentations, and you can search and retrieve later at home.
- Avoid scribbling - take voice notes.
The iPhone app contains a useful voice recorder. For those who don’t have access to US only voice recorder (ehem, Jott), Evernote can be used for voice messages while driving, operating, or even when consulting.
Equipment for operating
Evernote is very flexible, so this can’t be the end of the list. Share your suggestions for “evernoting” your surgical practice in the comments.
Think about your overall study strategy
After finding a treasure trove of old backups, I have been sorting through and summarizing my old study notes. I have found great summaries of physiology, anatomy and pathology, which I will be able to use for my next exam. It’s like finding gold.
Furthermore, my notes give me an impression of my technique. While some topics are neat, touch on all points and contain no irrelevant information, some are not. I have my (hopefully) last exam coming up in 2011. It is probably the biggest and most important exam I will sit, and I must study for about two years while working full time. So I have started researching different study techniques, and would like to share them with you.
- Tips for Using Delicious In (Doctoral) Research: “”
- Memory skills in study
- How to Study Effectively - 8 Concentration Strategies
- 101+ Web Resources for Students
- Note Taking Techniques, Note Taking Tips
- Jenson’s Equation for Optimal Leaning
- Task Times, The Planning Fallacy, and a Magical 20%
- Study Skills Help Page MTSU
Do you have an overall study strategy, or do you just “do what feels right?” I am interested to hear from other students who have examined their study skills and edited their style. Please share your study tips, plans and goals in the comments.