1. Neurology

Category Archives: Neurology

Library of the future – the new UChicago library has a stunning design and functionality

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The University of Chicago’s new Mansueto Library is a futuristic bubble of a building that uses an automated retrieval systems that holds the books in steel cases 50 feet below ground.

While many academic libraries are digitizing and moving holdings off site, Manseuto is the largest and latest of about 24 libraries that use the system.

The $81 million Mansueto library (Mr. Mansueto founded Morningstar stock info service) has capacity for 3.5 million volumes.

The Mansueto library is also focused on digitizing its collection and has a lab for both digitization and conservation:

- it mends paper and rebinds the university’s books — some of them papyrus
- it also scans books for its partner, Google Books

It takes 5 minutes for a student to get a book after the request is placed electronically:

- 5 cranes run along parallel tracks; one is activated and locates materials using bar codes

- the crane removes one of the 24,000 containers, each weighing up to 200 pounds and transports it to an elevator, which lifts it to a librarian's desk

Some students apparently like the new library so much that they record poetic videos of "Rain in the Mansueto": "A quick capture of what I think was the first rain storm for the new Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago. My phone's mic really couldn't do justice to the sound, but it was a pretty exciting deep almost-rumble. You also can't capture the immersive fish-bowl-ness of it; it really is all around you. I can't wait for a storm during the day... or a blizzard."

References:

The Bibliotech: Library of the Future, Now. NYTimes.

The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library

Building the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library (video)

The loss of the centuries-old idea of a library building as the place to go to read and to look for information. Johns Hopkins Medical Library Is Closing Its Doors to Patrons and Moving to Digital Model (http://goo.gl/BWjjO and http://goo.gl/KN55o). According to the article, Johns Hopkins will transition the current medical librarians to "informaticians" embedded with the clinical teams.

Disclaimer: I am an Allergist/Immunologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago.

Comments from Twitter:

@aptronym: Very impressive but what happens if there's a power outage, eh?
@BiteTheDust: they provide long ladders?
@DrVes: power outage at University of Chicago's Mansueto Library: http://t.co/fHbuIf2A
@aptronym: Ha! Two weeks after opening and a power outage meant #nobooksforanyone. I always ponder the effects of outages.

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Welcome to Sarasota Neurology: Your PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Specialist – Video

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sarasotaneurology.com Dan Kassicieh, DO, leading Sarasota Neurologist, discusses the many uses of PRP therapy. Platelet Rich Plasma is used to treat joint pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, back pain, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs and many other conditions. PRP is drawn from your own blood, and is a safe, remarkably effective therapy that provides for the regeneration of tissue

Go here to see the original:
Welcome to Sarasota Neurology: Your PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Specialist - Video

"Medical systems are made of holes and stacked like slices of Swiss cheese"

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From the NYtimes:

"In 2000, the British psychologist James Reason wrote that medical systems are stacked like slices of Swiss cheese; there are holes in each system, but they don’t usually overlap. An exhausted intern writes the wrong dose of a drug, but an alert pharmacist or nurse catches the mistake. Every now and then, however, all the holes align, leading to a patient’s death or injury."

We have to fix the systems.

References:

The Phantom Menace of Sleep Deprived Doctors. NYTimes, 2011.
Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

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Myopia, the most common refractive error, has a prevalence of 10-30% in Western countries, but as high as 80% in Asia

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Myopia (nearsightedness), the most common form of refractive error, has a prevalence of about 10-30% in most Western countries, but this figure is as high as 80% in parts of Asia. Furthermore, myopic refractive error is likely to progress during school years, and maintaining appropriate spectacle correction requires regular services for children in these age groups.

A study of self correction of refractive error among young people in rural China showed that although visual acuity was slightly worse with self refraction than automated or subjective refraction, acuity was excellent in nearly all these young people with inadequately corrected refractive error at baseline. Inaccurate power was less common with self refraction than automated refraction.

Self refraction could decrease the requirement for scarce trained personnel, expensive devices, and cycloplegia in children’s vision programs in rural China.

References:

Correcting refractive error in low income countries. BMJ 2011; 343 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d4793 (Published 9 August 2011).

Image source: OpenClipArt.org.

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Best Practices for Social Media Use in Medical Education

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This is a video presentation and summary by one of the best medical bloggers, Mike Cadogan of Life in the Fast Lane:

The Cycle Of Social Media In Medical Education he mentions is based in part on my concept of TIC, Two Interlocking Cycles for Physician and Patient Education.

Dr. Cadogan asked me for feedback on a few questions that he used to prepare the presentations a few weeks ago. The answers are listed below:

1) What are your TOP 3 TIPS for the intrepid doctors starting out on their social media crusade?
1. Post 3 times a week. Schedule posts in advance. In reality, 95% of medical bloggers probably quit within one year.
2. Use your blog to collect interesting ideas and share/comment on health news.
3. Write some original content, if you can, but if you don't have time, that's OK. You have a more important job as a physician in real world.
2) What are your TOP 3 TIPS for WHAT NOT TO DO on this crusade?
1. Don't disclose patient information.
2. Don't offend people.
3. Don't be unprofessional. If you use your real name, it's better to let your employer know about your social media activities. It's OK to start an anonymous blog/Twitter account to test the waters.
3) What are the top 3 benefits YOU see for the role of social media in medicine?
1. Provide expert info on health news and diseases. You, as a doctor, are the one who actually knows what he is talking about - if you stick to your area of expertise.
2. Collaborate with like-minded people.
3. Gather feedback (including critical feedback) for your ideas.
4. Grow your practice by providing high-quality actionable info to patients.
4) What (in your opinion) are the MOST USEFUL 'platforms/apps' in the social media revolution (e.g. Twitter, G+, Slideshare, Facebook, etc.)?
1. Start a blog.
2. Get useful feeds in Google Reader.
3. Share ideas and communicate on Twitter and Facebook.
Speaking from personal experience, I've started more than 30 blogs and still keep around about 7. It's important to find a purpose for your blog and other social media activities. If you don't enjoy it, you will stop eventually. Set limits and respect other priorities. Your family and your patients come first, blogs and social media are a distant second - if you spend most of your time in clinical medicine, of course. Stay away from trolls and online personas looking to start a fight. Ask for help when you need it.

References:

The Social Media Conversation
Social Media In Medical Education

Why blog? Notes from Dr. RW. A perfectly reasonable list. All doctors should consider blogging. It's do-it-yourself CME.

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  1. Neurology