QMedCONNECT: May 2010

QMedCONNECT Newsletter: May 2010

Dear friends,

I guess we are at a stage where every month is a busy one! And it is a good sign that our work is moving ahead at a rapid pace. This month I had the pleasure of delivering four lectures on literature searching out of which one was for undergraduate science students. This was a different experience and a very enjoyable one. Coming from a family of teachers, stimulating young minds is something that gives me immense satisfaction and I hope that many such opportunities come our way. We are almost completing an E-library project for the members of the Diabetic Foot Society of India. We will be doing two PubMed training programs in the coming month.

I attended two sessions with UnLtd India in May. It is difficult for me to find words to express how invaluable each session and interaction with them is proving to be. Getting an "external perspective" from people who work in the domain of social objectives, is proving to be immensely helpful. Based on these sessions, we are beginning to reorient our long term plans. We hope that we move with speed towards achieving our objective of helping medical students and health professionals use medical literature updates and medical libraries effectively for the practice of EBM!

Vasumathi Sriganesh

Do You Know?

The South Asian Database of Controlled Clinical Trials (SADCCT) is an online database of clinical trials that have been conducted in countries in South Asia. It is funded by a grant from the Indian Council of Medical Research and maintained by the Prof BV Moses & ICMR Advanced Centre for Research & Training in Evidence-Informed Health Care at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. The database provides information about controlled clinical trials and their sources in India and other South Asian countries.The SADCCT does not usually contain records of trials without a control group and will not have records of phase I or many Phase II trials that have only one interventional arm. Trial records are up-dated and made available in SADCCT on the 1st of each month. Trial records will be uploaded into CENTRAL every quarter.

The database becomes a supplementary source of information to a PubMed search as many of the South Asian journals are not indexed in PubMed.

Our Forthcoming Programs / Lectures

20th June, 2010

PubMed - Basics. Mahim, Mumbai

Our next PubMed Basics program will be held on Sunday, June 20, 2010 between 9.00 AM and 1.00 PM at Pikale Hospital, Mahim

Registration:

Maximum of 30 participants - on a first-come-first-served basis. The Fee is Rs. 500/- for students (proof of studentship required) and Rs.1000/- for other health professionals. Registrants from the Pharma industry will be charged Rs. 1500/- Payment can be made by cash, cheque or demand draft payable to "Quality Medical Knowledge Foundation". Please download the registration form from our website.

We offer a subsidy of Rs. 250/- for the first 10 participants - either students or health professionals. To avail of the subsidy, advance payment is a must. Do call us on 40054474 to check if you are eligible. Additionally we offer a 50% subsidy to past participants who wish to repeat this program

We invite medical colleges/hospitals to contact us for organizing a program for PG students, faculty and health professionals. Please check out details at our website.

Other Events of Interest:

9th - 12th June 2010: Medicon 2010: Conference for Undergraduate medical students focusing on Medical Research. Organized by INFORMER. More details

12th - 15th July 2010: Ethical Issues in Health Research. Conducted by The Indian Institute of Public Health, New Delhi.More details

31st July - 1st Aug 2010: An Intermediate level Research Methodology Workshop conducted by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, jointly with Hinduja Hospital, at the P.D.Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai. More details

2nd - 6th Aug 2010: Introduction to EB Healthcare and Systematic Review Protocol Development Workshop
Conducted by the SACN, CMC Vellore. More details

8th - 12th Nov 2010: Systematic Review Protocol Completion and Review Update Workshop. Conducted by the SACN, CMC Vellore. More details

If you are organizing or know about other conferences, pre-conference workshops or training programs related to medical research, do let us know; we would like to include these in our website and newsletter.

Resources for You:

Supercourse Lectures. Supercourse is a repository of lectures on Global Health and Prevention designed to improve the teaching of Prevention. Supercourse is a library of 3623 lectures in 30 languages. It has been produced at the WHO Collaborating Center University of Pittsburgh, with core developers Ronald LaPorte and others.

Our Foundation has received a CD of entire content, and are distributing it for free to institutions during our training programs and also to anyone requesting for the same. This will be useful if you do not wish to view all lectures on the Internet for various reasons. Please get in touch with us at info@qmedkf.org.in if you wish to receive a copy.

Article of the Month

Rodrigues LA, Kachala SS, Adusumilli PS.

Doctor, did you wash your hands?

The National Medical Journal of India. 2010; 23:111-12

This communication talks about the historical event where the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmleweis, in 1847, discovered that something as simple as handwashing between examining / delivering pregnant women eliminated fatal infections. At that time, the medical fraternity pooh-poohed his ideas and went to the extent of committing him to a mental hospital where he was beaten to death! Now in the 21st Century, handwashing compliance rates and reduction of hospital acquired infections are being researched, guidelines constantly updated and cost effectiveness is being monitored.The reason to highlight this article in QMedCONNECT is not to discuss hand-washing, but to highlight the fact that in medical practice, any research hypothesis backed with at least some basic foundational evidence cannot be ignored. It is another matter that the hypothesis maybe later proved wrong with large scale research. What is important is for practitioners to have an open mind. Dr. A.J. Cronin - the author turned writer in the early 1900s mentioned aptly "I tell myself never to take anything for granted". This during his MD Viva - when he was posed the question "What is the core foundation on which you would base your medical practice".

What we did –May 2010

Training Programs / Talks: Literature searching:

2nd May, 2010 - VI Scientific Writing & Skill Development Programme ; P.D.Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre and Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.

14th May, 2010 - Techniques in Biotechnology - workshop for BSc students organized by Department of Clinical Pharmacology, TN Medical College & BYL Nair Charitable Hospital

21st and 23rd May, 2010 - At events for Cardiologists in Delhi and Lucknow, sponsored by a Pharmaceutical company

E-Library Project for the Diabetic Foot Society of India

We are on the verge of completion of an E-library project for the DFSI. The E-Library will be accessible to members of the Society. The topics range from an overview of Diabetes mellitus and its various aspects to intricate topics on Diabetic Foot. For every topic, a user of the E-library will have access to the latest abstracts published in several journals and also to articles that are available free online. It will be an easy method for specialists in this field to stay updated, without going through the hassle of complex literature searching, and running through a list of several irrelevant articles.

Document Delivery of Journal Articles

In the month of May 2010, we delivered 149 articles to individual members, libraries and corporate clients. The total number of documents delivered since April 2010 is 264.

Request for Donations

This message is for YOU. Not for "someone else". We need support from every individual reading this newsletter. Every Rupee you donate or help us get will make a difference. Do contribute at least a day's salary/earnings to our Foundation any time you can. And do not forget to spread this message. We are constantly working at helping doctors become better doctors; this in turn helps them offer better treatment for you, your family and friends.

We accept donations by cheques in favour of Quality Medical Knowledge Foundation. Please send the cheques to our address, or write to us for our account details. You will get the applicable IT Exemption for donations under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act.

Quote of the Month

My research, even before 1972, moved in directions beyond those cited for the Nobel Memorial Prize. Most of it, in one way or another, deals with information as an economic variable, both as to its production and as to its use.
Kenneth Joseph Arrow
(American economist and joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks in 1972).

Directory of Indian Medical Sites (www.indianmedicalsites.in)

We have added 25 new sites in May and the total number of sites is about 3060.

We invite volunteers to add new sites. If you would like to help, do write to us and we will send you a set of instructions that will make it easier for you to work. Please write "Volunteering for Indian Medical Sites" in the Subject of the email.