Author Archives: Thien Le

Learning the how, rather than the what

Guest posting by Bailey Flynn

 

It’s no secret that the medical school system isn’t perfect. Between the politics of admissions and the overwhelming amounts of stress that most pre-med and med students are under, it’s clear that a few aspects of school need change. Though not headed to med school myself, a number of my friends are currently enrolled in or will be heading to med school next year, so I have second-hand experience with the flawed system.

The aspect of the med school system that I’d like to address here is how learning is accomplished.  Students spend much of the first 2 years of med school (the pre-clinical years) memorizing copious amounts of information about anatomy, drug interactions, treatment courses, and more. Recently, John Schumann, of NPR, recently covered how this practice is being rethought. The main argument is that memorization may not be the most effective use of time for med students, as bodies of medical knowledge are continuously growing and there’s no way students could possibly master everything. Additionally, students often have to memorize information that they’ll use once for a test, then never again.

Here is where I feel that my perspective comes in handy. Right now, we’re in the midst of finals, and I’ve spent the last 3 days making, studying, and memorizing an intimidating stack of flashcards full of material that I’ll likely never use again (including fun terms like nucleofection, sonoporation, and electroporation). Though I’m fully capable of learning these terms, I don’t necessarily believe that holding them in my mind will benefit me in the long term.

Now, I’m not saying that memorization is not important. I’m thankful that I have doctors who can quickly diagnose and prescribe for me medications that they’ve spent years learning about. However, especially with the widespread reliance on technology as a reservoir of knowledge, I don’t think that memorization should be a med student’s first priority.

Lately, I have heard that many med schools are gradually transitioning to problem-based learning (PBL). In PBLs, students have to acquire very detailed knowledge about a particular subject and put it to use to solve a certain problem. I’ve taken several PBL-based courses, and I believe I gained a great deal more from these classes than from traditional, lecture-based courses. In them, I feel that I learned how to learn and problem solve, and they certainly simulated real world work better than would any exam. Of course, med schools won’t (nor should they) eliminate entirely the memorization component of learning, but I think that a shift would be very beneficial to students’ learning.

 

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/04/21/401254790/would-doctors-be-better-if-they-didnt-have-to-memorize

Creating Informational Medical Videos: Steps for Success

Guest posting by Sarah Bakhiet

 

After a semester-long process of brainstorming and researching ways to reduce the post-operative length of stay of pediatric liver transplant patients, my team decided to create educational videos for patient’s caretakers. These videos aim to teach caretakers several important points on taking care of their child after transplant surgery. Generally, physicians are tasked with relaying this information to caretakers, so introducing these educational videos will allow physicians to focus on other discharge tasks and hopefully reduce the length of stay. Additionally, since caretakers have unlimited access to the videos, they can refer back at any time to make sure they are caring for their child properly, reducing the risk of liver rejection. In the following infographic, I outlined the process through which we produced our educational videos.

Creating Informational Medical Videos

Digital health solutions for those with high need

Guest posting by Charles Ho

 

A major conversation in the field of digital health revolves around the “digital divide”, which is the notion that certain groups of people are segregated due to their different habits of technological use. One particular topic in this overarching subject is the development of mobile healthcare technologies that are tailored to meet the needs of a population not typically associated with innovative technology, namely those who are elderly or low-income. Unfortunately, many new mobile applications and “wearable” technology are not geared towards those with chronic health conditions, which represents a great deal of health issues in the aforementioned populations1.

The Center for Health Care Strategies is currently holding a competition which challenges software developers to create a digital health solution which targets the needs and backgrounds of “low-income, high-need” individuals2. I find this to be very worthwhile effort, since it raises awareness that some of the seemingly simple things in life, such as nutrition and other social determinants of health, can be a platform for digital health interventions.

Although many people do not expect low-income individuals to be major consumers of mobile technologies, such usage is becoming increasingly prevalent. The “digital divide” less reflects the difference in access to such technology but rather the disparity in effective engagement with these digital technologies. For instance, a study has shown that a majority of those who are homeless have smartphones.3 Thus, digital health represents a huge opportunity to implement an impactful intervention for their well-being, if such as solutions are designed the right way.

Potential solutions that are worth pursuing need not be strictly associated with the patient’s health. There are numerous other factors that impact a person’s health, such as transportation access to a clinic. Perhaps it would be beneficial to develop an app that provides the most optimal public transportation route for a patient to access the nearest clinic they are eligible to be seen at. It can be interactive and real time, taking into account the patient’s specific needs as well as real-time tracking of buses and trains. This could also be used to gather location data and allow public health officials to better target mobile health campaigns. Such a digital health tool may help the low-income population access healthcare in a more convenient manner.

These types of technological solutions, which nowadays appear seemingly ordinary, can make a much larger impact on population health than some of the more popular health apps, which address fitness and tracking personal health data. Before jumping on board, these solutions targeting the low-income population need to ensure that they know how to operate these devices and if their wireless connections are reliable, such as ensuring they have a sufficient data plan on their smartphones. This is just one complication that needs to be addressed. That said, designing effective software applications for the low-income population can be an impactful component for addressing healthcare disparities.

 

REFERENCES

[1] Wired. “Wearables are totally failing the people who need them most”.  <http://www.wired.com/2014/11/where-fitness-trackers-fail/>
[2] Center for Health Care Strategies. “Digital Health Developer Challenge Targets Low-Income, High-Need, High-Cost Population” http://www.chcs.org/news/digital-health-developer-challenge-targets-low-income-high-need-high-cost-population/
[3] Johns, M. “The US homeless turn to smartphones and iPads to survive”. Business to Community.
http://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/the-us-homeless-turn-to-smartphones-and-ipads-to-survive-0375464
[4] iHealthBeat. “Low-income patients interested in digital health communication”
<http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2013/2/27/lowincome-patients-interested-in-digital-health-communication>

The Healthcare Technology Gap

Guest posting by Bailey Flynn

 

Healthcare Technology Gap (1)

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