3D printer used to make bone-like material
An amazing new medical inkjet was created by Washington State University; a 3D printer that creates bone-like structures. The bone like material can be used for a number of procedures such as dental and orthopedic work. Testing is still being done however; results have been promising, showing success in rats and rabbits. Amazing innovation!
Avoiding medical errors
Medical errors are unfortunately a big part of our health care. Medical errors do occur and sometimes are unavoidable, however there are things that patients can do to prevent or decrease errors. Taking steps and being persistent can help avoid being a statistic. Communication, monitoring, and being involved can help patients avoid errors from happening to them. Being engaged in one’s own treatment and having access to medical records is a great start to living a healthier life.
Technology to bridge language barriers
Barriers such as access to care, no health insurance, and language create big dents in our health system and keeps patients from receiving the treatment they need. The Howard County General Hospital unveiled a tool that will stream videos to provide live interpretation services to patients. This service will be instantaneous and will cater to 170 languages including Spanish, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and even deaf communities. The tablets access networks of interpreters and goes as far as reading patients body language and other visual cues to assist in accurate interpretations. This is a great tool to remove health barriers which prevent patients from receiving proper care.
What a concept: human-friendly hospital rooms
Michael Graves designed this bedside table with patients in mind
I've always found it a little odd that patients (disabled, blind, chronically ill, etc.) aren't consulted when hospitals, rehab facilities and doctor's offices are designed. I actually wonder if they're considered at all. I've gone to dermatologist appointments in the winter in a brand-new state of the art building that is frankly, too cold to be in fully clothed. Rooms with walls made of glass, floors of icy tile, and soaring 15+ foot ceilings aren't the best place to have a full body scan. I can't imagine being a patient going through chemo or radiation and having to be in that building multiple times a week. While I think natural light and colorful artwork definitely helps overall health and healing in an aesthetic way, there are other things to consider (like having rugs in the rooms where barefoot patients are waiting for 40 minutes to see a doctor in the middle of winter).
Renowned architect Michael Graves gave a talk regarding hospital and exam room design at the 2011 TEDMED conference, where he highlighted a lot of these issues, and gave numerous ideas for improvement and change. This article and the video of the talk itself (also at the link) are worth visiting, because it gives the perspective of a patient who is also a designer - one, in fact, who has spent his life integrating form and function. He is one of few people in the position to be able to see both sides of this issue, and be the one to know how to fix it. Now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound from an extremely rare infection, Graves can look around and see where current hospital and rehab center design has gone wrong. It may be that he is the one to show how to keep the bright, colorful and sensory-pleasing elements of current modern architecture, and incorporate sensible, patient-friendly features as well.
Medical schools embrace social media
Social networking has altered medical school admissions in many ways. While not all medical schools have yet declared their roles in social media, many are participating in everyday interactions with potential students through the use of social networks. Communications between potential students have gained great popularity amongst medical schools through application statuses and updates via text message or social media sites. Some medical schools have utilized tools such as Facebook to conduct orientation for incoming students; this prevents costly coordination fees and provides convenience for students and staff. With proper regulation around privacy and professionalism; the use of social media in an academic setting has great potential for student engagement and health education improvement.
Diversity 3.0
Here is an interesting commentary regarding what the "next phase" of diversity strategy should be for US medical schools. The AAMC is now focused on a different side of increasing diversity within med schools - where before there was a push to educate those in medical education as to why diversity is important and beneficial (and to increase the actual numbers of under-represented students in matriculating classes) , now the push is to integrate diversity into the core values and goals of each institution.
The article ends with this thought: "This DOS 3.0 transformation will be a realization of an upgrade in our thinking, one that is not limited to compositional diversity but also incorporates diversity of thought, expression, desires, and goals and, ultimately, enhances the experience of all medical students, faculty, and, most important, patients."
I appreciate this shift in focus, and think that a thoughtful and in-flux definition of "diversity" is both adventageous and productive.
Breakthrough medical gadgets: The future of healthcare hardware
In today’s society, our technological abilities advance on a daily basis and health technology is no exception. A group of developers gathered for a meeting to present some of the new innovative gadgets and healthcare hardware. The gadgets have potential to changemedical training and improve health with a simple click of a button. Some of the gadgets described in the article include the Xiaflex Injection Trainer-rubber dummy models that assist in training physicians with procedures such as injecting enzymes into diseased tendons, the AccuVien AV 300 which scans for thick blood vessels and projects them onto a patient’s skin allowing professionals to easily locate vessels, the EarlySense Monitoring system which is a bed that monitors your vital signs and alert nurses when someone who is not allowed up has gotten out of bed, and many others
Many of these items are already present in hospitals and have begun to assist health professionals. It is interesting to watch the progression of these gadgets as well as the production of new ones and how they will change our healthcare system.
Recoding Innovation
Some of the questions the NSF is posing to scientists and engineers
The National Science Foundation is currently gathering stories (in video form) from scientists and engineers about how they use their own personal values, ethics and beliefs to guide their research and work. The purpose is to put them together in a film called Recoding Innovation, which is focused on the humanity imbued within science and technology innovations. The tagline is "Ethics as a Creative Force in Science and Engineering".
Human issues drive all of what we do here at the R.A. offices - and ethics and values are at the core of medical science and innovation. The topics most often discussed in terms of health care right now are all rooted in ethics - patient safety, confidentiality, humanism & professionalism, the limits of genetic testing/engineering/research, reproductive health, and death/dying just to name a few.
I think it's a great idea (and hugely important) to get people talking about and sharing their thoughts and ideas in this realm, and I'm excited to see the finished film. In fact, I might try to get some of us here to think about these questions before or during the holidays, and either write up our answers or shoot our own video. The process could be both grounding and illuminating.
More on humanities & medical education
In a nice follow-up to the post last week about integrating arts and humanities into medical school curricula, here is a story about the collaboration between Yale University School of Medicine and University College London Medical School to hold a poetry contest for medical students. The winner received $1500, which was donated by an anonymous patient who wanted the money to go to an initiative involving health care and literature. The contest received 160 poems for consideration, a fact that indicates the current generation of physician trainees are very interested in forms of artistic expression regarding their work.
Creative writing isn't necessarily something most people associate with their doctors, but there are a number of physicians who are also wonderful writers: Michael Crichton, Atul Gawande, William Carlos Williams and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are just a few.
There was such a flood of interest (and quality poetry) in response to the contest, that it is being planned again next year, with another $1500 top prize being donated by the same patient. I hope it becomes an annual event for Yale and University College London, and that other medical schools and academic health centers consider art and writing events as well.
The winners of the poetry contest, along with another excellent example of medical poetry entitled "Cancer Winter" by Marilyn Hacker, can be read here.
New social media tool for students and surgeons
Surgery Theater is the first online social media educational portal for all surgical procedures. The site can be used to watch live surgical procedures and conferences, medical document sharing, exploring new surgical techniques, and receiving information on the most up-to-date surgical innovations. This is a great medical education resource for students but can also be used for patients looking to get more information on upcoming surgical procedure. This is a great new educational tool for surgeons, students, and patients.