Last Friday, I had the privilege of giving my first invited keynote at the Quebec Emergency Physician Association (AMUQ) Conference in the beautiful Montreal, Quebec.

Co-presenting with me, was my friend and Singularity University‘s FutureMed classmate, Dr. Christian Assad, who is a Cardiologist and techgeek (like me), so as you can probably imagine, we had a lot of fun talking with ER neophyites. Thank you Christian for your amazing support, its a privilege to have you as a co-presenter and a friend.

The presentation was a success and we may even be invited next year.

I hope you like the slides and very much look forward to hearing from you.

Ta ta for now!

Cisco

Three weeks ago, I had the privilege of being invited to teach for Dr. Margaret Hansen‘s Graduate Class in Medical and Nursing Informatics. The students were a lot of fun, and we did a virtual tour of healthcare facilities in Second Life after the slides weer completed.

To my pleasant surprize, the slideshow received more than sixty thousand views in less than thirty-six hours. This is a record in my discipline, which I am very excited about.

I hope you like the slides and video. Also, please dont forget to send me your comments.

Cheers,

Cisco

Last February, I had the privilege of presenting a workshop at the 9th Annual Cochrane Canada Symposium.

It was a lovely conference amongst the masters and purists of Evidence Based Medicine. Our session, Using Social Media to Promote Evidence-Based Practice: A Primer on Blogs, Wikis, and Twitter, was very well received (abstract below).

ABSTRACT

Workshop 6: Using Social Media to Promote Evidence Based Practice

Background: This workshop provides an overview of three popular social media technologies, blogs, wikis and microblogging (e.g., Twitter, Yammer). The authors will show where to locate medical blogs and wikis on the social web and the type of information that can be found there to support evidence-based practice. Through a mix of didactic lecture, hands-on practice, and group discussion, this workshop provides an entry point for social media beginners.
Learning objectives: At the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Understand blog, wiki and microblogging tools and how they are used in medicine
• Have some basic knowledge of how to select one of the social tools examined to support evidence-based practice and medical education
• Identify major blogging and wiki platforms to create accounts, new content and social networks
• Be able to assess issues of privacy on various social media platforms
• Contextualize workshop information for personal use in practice, research and continuing education

Format: A practical session that combines lecture, live demonstrations and practical exercises.

Equipment required: Participants can bring their laptops and mobiles. Internet access will be provided.

Knowledge level required: Some awareness of social media and basic knowledge of the web.

It is essential that I acknowledge my co-authors Dean Giustini (Lead), and Dan Hooker, for their hard work and collaboration in this project.

TEKT refers to the strategic deployment of modern information and communication technologies to help individuals and organizations accelerate the incorporation of research and new knowledge into clinical practice.² For the Olympics, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is responsible for deploying one of the most intricate public health surveillance systems ever designed for a planned mass gathering.³ As a medium of dissemination and performance evaluation by the system, technology is the modus operandi in the integration of fourteen data sources which allow for continuous assessment, monitoring, and public health response. Table 1 (below) displays the data sources, including both existing and enhanced data resources created for solely for Olympic surveillance by VCH. The intricacy doesn’t stop there however. All components of data collection are also congruent with the Olympic Movement Medical Code,⁴ the document which describes the rules and medical practices for Olympians and prevents positive doping tests resulting from medical treatment.

Table 1: Surveillance System Components

As you can see from the table, data is vast and the stakes are high! The “crash” room where this data is analyzed is located at Vancouver General Hospital and staffed 24 hours a day. The Olympic surveillance team conducts real time geospatial analyses and is capable of sending blackberry-push instant notifications to all IOC medical personnel. Figure 1 displays a publicly available crowdsourced version of what the protected crash-centre map may look like. This map features the 25 cities where 75% of Olympic visitors reside and the corresponding germs these people may bring with them. In the “crash” room, data access statistics are also geo-coded by IP address allowing disease prevention and management personnel, whom are central to the system, to evaluate the effectiveness of TEKT. Daily reports with the current state of public health affairs can be downloaded directly from the “crash room”,6 should you interested.

Figure 1: Geospatial map denoting the residence location of 75% of Olympic visitors

In regards to personnel, the two polyclinics, the Olympian-only treatment facilities, are staffed with public health nurses with on-the-spot communicable disease, rapid flu, enteric, and point of care HIV testing and management resources. Cluster and outbreak investigation teams are also situated in each of the Olympic venues, all equipped with laboratory sample-collection equipment for expedited testing. For the treatment and management of disease, the Polyclinics have stockpiles of antivirals (e.g., Tamiflu), well-established outbreak protocols, and set processes for isolation, including those for security personnel, athletes and other VIPs.

While you soak in the festivities during these 27 days of sport and 60 days of celebration, don’t only walk proud of your Canadian heritage. Show your pride with a smile on your face, because you know that the 21st Winter Olympic Games have featured Vancouver as a leader of public health surveillance and TEKT in action.

References:

[1] Henry, B. Planning for the 2010 Olympics in the midst of a pandemic: a provincial perspective.

[2] Ho et al. Technology-enabled knowledge translation: frameworks to promote research and practice. J Contin Educ Health Prof (2004) vol. 24 (2) pp. 90-9

[3] Daly, P. Public Health Surveillance for Vancouver 2010.

[4] Olympic Medical Commission. Olympic Movement Medical Code.

[5] Health Map. Global Disease Alert Map for the Olympics.

[6] Vancouver Coastal Health. 2010 Helath Watch.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank @roboethics for reviewing the first few drafts of this post.

Editorial Note:

This article was written for the column “The 2.0 Factor: Musings of a Hyperconnected world” in the TICr.

Last year we saw the Netbook, e-Book Reader, and App Phone (short for mobile phone with a downloadable application) proliferate. This year, my Bluetooth LED ball shows four transformations coming:

1. F(Web 2.0 AND Medicine)^PubMed. We will see the first exponential growth of peer-review literature relating to Web 2.0 in medicine. Figures 1 and 2 (below) were featured in a recent article published last year by a fellow tweep and emerging technologies librarian @pfanderson.¹ I believe the data speaks for itself.

2. Augmented reality (AR) comes to your pocket. If you are wondering what AR is all about, don’t worry, chances are that you are not alone. In essence, it is the nexus of physical and sensory worlds with web-based information. For example, AED4EU is an application created by a friend of mine, @zorg20, which allows anyone who finds a person in cardiac arrest to point their phone and while using the camera; GPS and Internet data merge on the screen (Figure 3) to help you can find the closest sparky (Automatic External Defibrillator). This will ultimately decrease the time-to-shock ratio where there is a 10% decrease in the likelihood of resuscitation with each passing minute.

3. Embedded sensors get cheap! Wearable sensors like the fitbit allow you to track sleep, exercise, calories burned, and wirelessly upload your data to the net automagically; best of all, they cost less than a hundred dollars. Thus, we will see a ubiquity of sensors come into the market that allow you to track of your dog, wife, and kids’ lives to the step. We will also see an increase in the number of clinical trials that use these gadgets.

4. Social media policies come out of the closet. 2010 will bifurcate our social media use. Health regions, universities, and professional health-related associations will do one of two: A) run away and deem Facebook/Twitter the source of all evil; respectively “banning” the use of Social Media almost completely; or B) they will train their staff to use social media in a responsible manner and allow an enhanced patient-clinician relationship. McMaster University’s new Medical School policy is an early example of this is where, any medical student or staff who uploads a picture to a social media site in an inappropriate environment, or that, which propagates alcohol use, will automatically be placed on academic probation.

As the old Mexican saying states: “We will see, said the blind man.” In the meantime, have a very successful New Year!

Cisco

Works Cited:

[1] Anderson et al. An Online and Social Media Training Curricula to Facilitate Bench-to-Bedside Information Transfer. Positioning the Profession: the Tenth International Congress on Medical Librarianship (2009) pp. 1-11.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank @roboethics for reviewing the first few drafts of this post.

Editorial Note:

This article was written for the column “The 2.0 Factor: Musings of a Hyperconnected world” in the TICr.

Hello fellow UBC graduate students. My name is Cisco (@ciscogiii on twitter) and I am running for the senate position with the intent of making graduate student problems and ideals heard by the university. These maybe as simple as (dis)approving a course or as complex as ensuring an academic appeal is given the fairness it deserves. I won’t bore you to death talking about details of my background or who I am (these may be found at www.franciscograjales.com/ for those who are interested); I much rather focus on why I am running for this position and what I would like to do for you.

Unlike most other GSS candidate positions, Student Senators hold a different role. If elected, my job is to represent you, graduate students, in the highest decision-making body at UBC – Vancouver Senate. This means that although I will not hold a budget to make physical events or scholarships happen; I can persistently ensure that your voice is heard in all senate decisions. These include graduate-calendar changes, campus building decisions, appeals, curriculum changes, and policy; such as what our current president, Arvnd Saraswat, has proposed in regards to accessible child-care facilities.

It is sad that due to the unpaid nature of this seat, it has been customary for graduate student senators to step back and let their job slack. I feel privileged at the opportunity to represent us and break this patternif elected as your representative. I would also like to show my commitment by letting you know that my arms and ears are open to you. There’s no need to come to the GSS office – you can ping me on twitter, Facebook, or even my mobile. I commit to listening and facilitating your voice to the GSS body because I believe it is the only way we can be properly represented at the UBC Vancouver Senate. I will also strive to keep your GSS representatives accountable and support them in serving you.

Let’s work together and make UBC the best graduate student experience we could have!

Cisco

Twitter – @ciscogiii <http://twitter.com/ciscogiii>

Facebook – Cisco GIII <http://facebook.com/ciscogiii>

Mobile - +1.778.881.4061 (SMS is best)

Email - me@franciscograjales.com

More about Cisco - www.franciscograjales.com/about/

It was the people like you that took the time and made a difference in my life. Wether you taught me how diplomatic protocol and history were made (you know who you are =), proofread a paper, or shared the beauty of life during a meal; these were times I greatly valued and feel privileged to have shared with you.

I hope you enjoy this video and very much look forward to your comments.

Have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Winter’s Solstice, or just a jolly old time with some apple cider and Christmas carols.

Cisco

Today, I am followed by and follow over four hundred tweeps and cannot imagine a day without greeting, collaborating, and tinkering along with my twitter gang.

For those of you open minded types, I believe the following two pieces nicely describe the impact Twitter can have in Medicine and Public Health.

NY Times Columnist Dr. Pauline Chen‘s Medicine in the Age of Twitter

P.F. Anderson’s Twitter for Public Health

mHealth can have a lot of applications in Public Health, particularly with the growing penetration rate of mobiles in developing nations.

This presentation provides a wonderful introduction to the subject.

Stay tuned for more posts on mHealth.

Hungarian Inter-city Train Toilet

Miasma or not, feces and bodily fluids go straight from the orifice and are funneled to the train tracks.

For us public health gurus, I thought it would make you say: Got Public Health?

Cisco