QMedCONNECT: August 2008

QMedCONNECT Newsletter: August 2008

Dear friends,

Greetings from a rainy August in Mumbai! This month, for a change we had put in more efforts in the area of copy editing and medical writing. We are happy to have taken a good step forward in this direction - and you will see this in the section on our collaboration with Medknow Publications.

We have also been brainstorming on Fund raising for our initial sustenance. I say “initial sustenance” because I believe that in the long term, we can sustain ourselves purely through our services which are low cost. We only need volumes of people and institutions availing of our offerings. Having said that – to reach desired volumes we have to work hard. We are working hard! But in the interim, we do need help. We believe that everyone who reads our newsletter agrees that we are doing something unique and doing it well. We welcome help from anyone who is in a position to offer aid. If you can help, do go to the section on Donations and act now. You will be contributing to an effort of “better medical care through better empowerment of healthcare professionals”.

In case you have not received our earlier issues - do check them out on our website

We would be happy to receive more views/ suggestions by email at info@qmedkf.org.in

Vasumathi Sriganesh

What we did- August 2008

Training programs in September - PubMed Basics

August 30, 2008 - Parvati Iyer conducted a program for the students of the M.Optom course of the Lotus College of Optometry, Mumbai. We'd like to share something special about our association with this institution. Three years ago, when this Masters' program was launched, they invited us to do our program on literature searching using PubMed, as the First lecture of the program! We really appreciate this initiative from a School of Optometry, and would be delighted if Medical and Surgical PG programs followed this initiative. This year, the Principal shared with us, that each batch of students has given a high rating for the PubMed program! This year, we were also very happy to have been invited for the convocation of the College. We are happy to wish the Lotus College of Optometry the very best in their initiatives.

"PubMed - Basics" Forthcoming Programs

We are pleased to announce our next "PubMed - Basics" Training program on Sunday 28 September 2008 from 10 am to 1 pm at Parakh Hospital, Khokhani Lane, Opp. Ghatkopar Railway Station, Ghatkopar (East). We are thankful to Dr. Jagdip Shah, Consulting Gynaecologist and Obstetrician who has on behalf of the hospital, kindly offered the venue free of cost for this training.

Registration:

Limited registrations - maximum of 30- 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".

Download Brochure

Download Registration form

Future Programs:

Just in case you are busy or out of station on 28th September 2008, you can register for any of our future "PubMed - Basics" training programs which are scheduled to be held on Sundays on the following dates from 10 am to 1 pm. Venues will be announced soon.

9 November, 2008
7 December, 2008
22 February, 2009

Invitations for talks

The Karnataka Ophthalmic Society has requested Vasumathi Sriganesh to give a lecture on literature searching at its forthcoming Annual Conference in Shimoga during the dates November 7-9, 2008. Vasumathi may also be participating as Faculty in the 11th workshop on "Medical Informatics and Biomedical Communication" at the Jamnalal Bajaj Tropical Disease Research Centre, of the MGIMS at Sewagram, Wardha during the dates November 20-22, 2008.

Some updates

Copy editing for Medknow Publications

Last month we had shared with you about our project for Medknow Publications. To take things ahead we have worked at several steps. First - we are very happy to say that Ms. Kanaka Cadambi, a journalist by training and an experienced copy editor has not only agreed to copy edit, but also to train and help others who will be part of our team. Next, we located our team of copy editors. This new "freelance team" consists of Ms. Kanaka, three professionals from the Library and Information field - Dr. S.K. Savanur, Dr. Mrs. Perin Marolia and Mr. Charles D'Souza, and a retired science journalist - Mr. Prabhakar Nair. The entire team is not only happy to do the job of copy editing, but also want to do everything they can to help raise the standards of the publications.
On August 9, Kanaka conducted a half day workshop to familiarize everyone with the exact requirements of Medknow's stylesheets. Her next workshop to cover more about copy editing in depth, is scheduled to be held on 6th September*. With all these efforts, we hope to help Medknow and to contribute to their efforts in ensuring high quality of publications in Indian journals. We would specially like to thank Ms. Kanaka for her "donation" to QMed; she is offering her training without charges in the interest of the larger cause that QMed is involved in.

*Since this issue is being sent out late, we'd like to add that the two sessions went off very well, and the editing team will very soon be set to work on copy editing for Medknow.

New project/initiatives

New Project

We are delighted to share with you that we have undertaken a project to do the website for the National Institute of Immunohematology - an ICMR Institute located in the KEM campus at Parel. In addition to doing their website, we will also be creating an online bibliography of about 1000 papers published from their institute over several years.

Knowledge Partner for Sorento Healthcare

Sorento Healthcare has invited us to be their "Knowledge Partner" to help them with their activities relating to medical communication. This organization works with Pharmaceutical companies and hospitals to promote good medical communications to doctors. Through this partnership, we hope that Pharmaceutical companies that sponsor knowledge based products and services will spread our offerings amongst healthcare professionals.

New Members:

We welcome three new Consultant members - a Surgeon from Dombivili, a Pediatrician from Irla and a Gynecologist from Ghatkopar.

Donations to QMed Knowledge Foundation

If you appreciate our unique mission, and would like to support us, we will ensure that the donation you make is not only utilized with utmost care but also with a high degree of transparency and accountability. No contribution is too little. We accept donations only 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.
You will also get an IT Exemption for donations under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act

IT Exemption for donations under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act

Our CA informs us that the department is still processing applications received in March, so we can expect our certificate next month.

Article of the Month:

Special Issue
Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology

This time we'd like to highlight not just an article, but a special issue of the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology - 2008 - Jan - Vol 74 - Suppl. This issue - a special supplement - carries the recommendations of the IADVL Dermatosurgery Task Force for standard guidelines of care for dermatosurgical procedures. The President of IADVL in his remarks mentions that Dermatosurgery in India is an emerging subspecialty and hence many like-minded individuals of IADVL took the effort of producing this issue especially for the benefit of younger dermatologists. We are very happy to highlight this effort - a special set of Guidelines in an Indian journal, and we have also included them in our Directory of Indian Medical Sites

Quote of the Month

"It's rare that patients ask for a second opinion when they're happy with the first"
- Robert Half -

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

We have added about 45 new sites in the last month and the total number of sites has crossed 2150. If you are interested in volunteering to add new sites, do write to us and we will send you a set of instructions that will make it easier for you to work. Please add the words "Volunteering for Indian Medical Sites" in the Subject of the email.