Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Bassett Collection (Human Anatomy)

Have a strong stomach for detailed anatomy images? The Bassett Collection of Stereoscopic Images of Human Anatomy is now available on the Stanford Lane Medical Library's website.

This is an astounding collection of 1,547 photographs with accompanying sketches and descriptions. Information about the collection:

"David Lee Bassett (1913-1966) was awarded his MD by Stanford University School of Medicine in 1939. He began teaching in the Department of Anatomy at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1939 and later also taught anatomy at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1948 Bassett met William B. Gruber, inventor of the Viewmaster system of stereoscopic imagery. Bassett and Gruber collaborated on a seventeen-year project of creating three-dimensional photographic images of human anatomy using innovations in dissection pioneered by Dr. Bassett."

Any questions about permissions of use should be directed to Drew Bourn at dbourn@stanford.edu.

Understanding the Millennials

My parents are Boomers, I'm a Gen-X'er, and my students are Millennials. If you teach Millennials, you will definitely agree that they carry a vibe very different from the previous two generations.

This presentation, "The Generations Game" is very worth going through. It will take you less than ten minutes to read it.
  • If you're a teacher - you can get a solid grasp of where your Millennials are coming from.
  • If you ARE a millennial - take a look and see what data has been acquired and interpreted about who you are as a generational group.

The presentation is co-authored by two educators in the United Kingdom - Steve Mellor, the Head of Youth and Kids Research at Harris Interactive Europe, and Cathy O'Donnell.

(click on the projection screen icon above to view the presentation in full screen mode)

Learning about how our students think will open the doors to how we can keep our students engaged as we develop our plans and innovations to keep medical education on the cutting edge. Knowing our audience is in the best interest of educators and students alike.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

BEME Collaboration

Oh, how I wish, how I wonder if there were such an ideal resource where I could find best practices for medical education research...

What's this now you speak of - BEME? What's that?

BEME stands for the Best Evidence Medical Education and is pronounced "bee-mee".

The BEME Collaboration is based in the United Kingdom. They describe themselves as:

"a group of individuals or institutions who are committed to the promotion of Best Evidence Medical Education through:


  • the dissemination of information which allows medical teachers, institutions and all concerned with medical education to make decisions on the basis of the best evidence available

  • the production of appropriate systematic reviews of medical education which reflect the best evidence available and meet the needs of the user, and


  • the creation of a culture of best evidence medical education amongst individual teachers, institutions and national bodies.
Specific features I like about BEME (find these in the left blue menu options):

Published Reviews: provide systematic reviews of medical education topics ranging from assessment to faculty development

(ie, BEME Guide No 10 - A systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of self-assessment in clincal education)

Reviews in Progress: view many of the drafts of current reviews being completed

(ie, A systematic review of the literature on the effects of portfolios on student learning in undergraduate medical education)


Of course, be sure to explore the other sections. The "starting a review" section is a very helpful guide if you are preparing to write a systematic review.


You will have a greater appreciation for the concept of evidence-based education research after you've perused the wealth of information in BEME.

Googling Swine Flu

Holy smokes! The swine flu has taken over the airwaves. As with anything alarming, it's best to start with grounding yourself by getting reliable information.


A current search for swine flu using Google gives you a swine influenza result from Wikipedia as a top result. That's all well and good, but if you aren't careful to look at the top of the Wikipedia page, you'll miss the fact that the information on that site is about the flu in pigs, not humans.


Thankfully, if you've read carefully, you'll have seen the link to current event: swine flu outbreak at the top of that Wikipedia page. By clicking on the History tab at the top of the swine flu outbreak page, you'll see that information has been changing several times an hour. That may not be all that bad, but we can start with a trusted resource to get reliable updates.


To find information from just the CDC website on this topic, search this phrase in Google: site:cdc.gov swine flu


The first result takes you to the official CDC swine flu page.


1 = the latest update is time stamped in red at the top

2 = there is a link to international information from the World Health Organization

3 = the options on the right allow you to get updates to this page via email, Twitter, or RSS. Videos & podcasts are available to learn more, and the site can be translated into Spanish.


Arm yourself with trusted information. Be smart, be safe, be healthy.