QMedCONNECT: November 2011

QMedCONNECT Newsletter: November 2011

Dear friends,

November was a little less hectic than October. However it was pretty productive in terms of networking and our future planning. We also created a simple manual on medical writing - aimed mainly at Undergraduate students, but we believe it will be useful for any novice writer. Do check out http://mw.qmedkf.org.in

I conducted one PubMed workshop at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune and delivered a couple of lectures at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences Pune, as part of a Medical Informatics Workshop. I also attended a three day conference organized by the Telemedicine Society of India. At each of these places it was great meeting people genuinely interested in what we do and offering to help. One participant at the MUHS workshop told me - "Madam, your organization is actually doing a Social Service for medical education". I was very touched!

We specially appreciate her comment: "Literature should be searched to have an idea on what is already known and how their research will add to current knowledge".

One more important activity this month was a meeting with some of the core team members of INFORMER - the Forum for Medical Students Research - which focuses on encouraging research for undergraduate students of medical and health sciences. QMed has been helping and supporting INFORMER in small ways since their first "Medicon" event in Mangalore in 2009. I have personally spent time mentoring them too. In this meeting I helped them with their future plans, and we discussed ideas for strong collaborations.

We now have pleasure in announcing that every INFORMER member will be a Friend of QMed too, and can avail of our help and expertise as "Individual Friends of QMed". INFORMER and its members will in turn help spread our message of the importance of good literature searching and library usage.

We are very sure that today's students, who will be tomorrow's healthcare professionals, will work with us to make changes that are good for them and for the profession too!

Vasumathi Sriganesh

Special Attention: Students of all Health Science Courses

In the last issue of our newsletter, we had asked you if you would like to be part of a big change. (Do go through the same section in that issue in case you have not read it). We have taken the first step - all INFORMER members will now become Friends of QMed. In the coming months, we would like to create projects and internship programs where UG students can learn from us and contribute too! INFORMER and QMed will work together to make these things innovative, interesting, useful and fun.

Stay in touch with us to see how you can be part of this initiative - through our website and through our Facebook page!

Help QMed GROW

If you believe in our cause and efforts. do give us a donation - small or large. Every drop counts!

If you are a healthcare professional or student, you could become a "Friend of QMed". Becoming a "Friend" is like being a "donor member". You will get all the help that we can provide with our expertise. We request a minimum donation of Rs. 2000/- per year. For PG students we subsidize this to Rs. 1000/- and for UG students it is Rs. 500/- (if you are not a member of INFORMER)

Do check out our website www.qmedkf.org.in for details.We accept donations by cheques in favour of Quality Medical Knowledge Foundation. You may send the cheques to our address, or you could ask us for our account details to do a transfer. You will get the applicable IT Exemption for donations under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act.

Do You Know?

Cochrane Summaries

The Cochrane Library has a database of "Systematic Reviews" which are reviews by experts who analyze large studies to find out what really matters.

Cochrane Summaries give us the gist of the reviews in plain language - something that an educated consumer can understand or a doctor can use to communicate with a patient or health consumer. This is also useful for medical students - it is a great starting point to understand what constitutes evidence. And every summary has a link to the "Structured abstract" as well as the full review, which is available to us free, thanks to the ICMR purchasing a country wide license for us in India.

Resources for You

Supercourse Lectures. Supercourse is a repository of lectures on Global Health and Prevention. if you wish to receive a copy, do write to us at info@qmedkf.org.in

UpToDate. We, as trainers of UpToDate - [www.uptodate.com], can give one month complimentary trial passwords. Do write to us atinfo@qmedkf.org.in if you would like to have one.

Forthcoming Training Programs/Lectures

December 07. PubMed Basics - Apollo Hospital, Delhi (sponsored event)

December 07. PubMed Basics - Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurgaon (sponsored event)

December 25. Presentations at two preconference workshops of ISACON 2011

• How to practice evidence based medicine in anaesthesia

• Clinical Research Methodology

Other Events of Interest

Events conducted by the South Asian Cochrane Network & Centre. 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.

Article of the Month

Sukhlecha A.

Research publications: Should they be mandatory for promotions of medical teachers?.

J Pharmacol Pharmacother 2011;2:221-4

"It is a sad to know that even though India has the largest number of medical institutes and large biodiversity of population, we are short of quality research publications. Research works originating in our country get patented in the west. Where does the problem lie - with the system or with the teachers?"

The author mentions the discussions that have emerged in the recent months about the pros and cons of research being made mandatory for promotion of medical teachers. She emphasizes upon the need for training and mentoring and also shares ideas about what can be done, and the steps needed to go ahead. We specially appreciate her comment: "Literature should be searched to have an idea on what is already known and how their research will add to current knowledge".

What we did – November 2011

Training Programs / Talks: Literature searching/ Consultative meetings

November 08, 2011. PubMed Basics - Sponsored event in Pune

November 15, 2011. Literature searching - Part of an "Introductory workshop in Medical Informatics" organized by the MUHS at Pune.

Document Delivery of Journal Articles

In the month of November 2011, we delivered 72 articles to individual members & libraries. The total number of documents delivered since April 2011 is 455.

Quote of the Month

Most people use statistics the way a drunk uses a lamp post, more for support than enlightenment

-Mark Twain

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

We have added 25 new sites in the month of January and the total number of sites is 3475.

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.