Star Wars is Real!

A mechanical and prosthetic arm, which is being controlled by the brain

and is receiving sensory information.

In other words, AWESOME!!

ECG Practice site

This website has a list of major heart issues and provides an ECG sample with the associated ECG changes. It's a great resource for reviewing the ECG findings that would go with a RBBB or LBBB etc.

http://www.ecglibrary.com/ecghome.html

Enjoy!

D.I

iTunes U(niversity)

So, if you've got an iTunes account, you are privy to many features it can offer, the most useful of which (medically) is iTunes U. Basically, they're free (usually) podcasts from universities and colleges from around the world that you can download. Some things are just audio and some are videos. And you can load them onto your iPod too!

I found one particularly helpful for our current System. It's a bunch of audio clips of normal and abnormal heart sounds.

Heart Sounds

Also, check out the Health and Medicine iTunes U page for more and interesting things to supplement your learning!

Lexi-Comp Me!

These instructions and more were sent in an email a while back, but in case you've forgotten or deleted it!

And thanks to our very own Diphile for these wonderful instructions to getting Lexi-Comp Institutional on our handy-dandy smartphones!

This applies to anyone with a smart phone (palm os/pocket pc, blackberry, iPhone/itouch).

So this will likely be more pertinent next year and during JURSI, but we might as well get it now and become familiar with it. It might also come in handy for pharmacology. The package deals with: (http://www.lexi.com/)

• Drug and Drug Interaction Information
• Drug Allergy
• Drug Therapy Duplication
• Drug Dose Checking
• Information on Diagnosis and Disease Management
• Formulary Services
• Patient Education Resources
• Clinical Support Tool

Go to https://library.usask.ca/resources/lexicomp_pda and log in with the NSID, you can find specific instructions for your hardware. Either way, you need to download the software, register with your USASK email and enter the specific product code you require.

GOOGLE Sync for APPLE

There should be a celebration now. No more mobile me software and monthly fees. It looks like the masses have won. Push mail and calender for Google users. Click on the link below and get "pushed" always on and always current information on your iphone or apple touch.

Another note for Iphone users 3.1 battery issues are known and being investigated according to MODmyi. Apple is looking into the issues right now. Cheers, Z.

Apple Talk Overview

If you want a free program to edit your PDFs on mac, check out Formulate Pro

I use this for mac

Other programs from the talk today:

1) Apple Specific Keyboard Shortcuts

- Print Screen = Cmd+Shift+3

- Zoom = Control+Scroll

- If you're switching from using a PC to a Mac, just know that Command replaces the Control key for most shortcuts

2) Spotlight, built-in ultimate search function for Macs

3) iCal, Address Book, Mail

4) Hot Corners, go to System Preferences and check it out!

5) Spaces, allows you to have multiple "desktops"

6) Quicksilver, third-party software to help you use your Mac efficiently

7) Software Updates

- Please check these regularly

- Click on the Apple icon in the top-left corner to find it

8) Preview

- It has the ability to edit and comment, look under Tools>Mark Up OR Tools>Annotate

9) Time Machine

- Compatible with any external hard drive,

- Regularly backs up your computer's content in case of computer failure

- Hassle-free and simple to use!

10) Perian, it allows Quicktime to play multiple video formats

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Future Sessions:

1) Media (iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, Garageband, etc)

- How to make videos, songs, etc

2) iPhone/iPod Touch Medical Apps Walkthrough

tMed: How to get the most out of your Macbook, iPhone, iPod Touch presentation

tMed is having a presentation/Q&A on Monday, September 21st from 12:45-1:30PM in room TBA about "How to get the most out of your Macbook, iPhone, iPod Touch". An exploration into what your Apple product can do to make you productive. Questions are very welcome, and tech support will be available, so bring your Apple devices.

Brain Surgery Simulator

Brain surgery simulator using fMRI of a patient, with real force feedback and varying resistance. $9.1 million, 3 year project. First successful use at the Halifax's Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center. Made in Canada!

via Technology Review - Read

tMed Planning Meeting

A planning meeting will be held tomorrow (Friday, Sept 4) in MUMPS from 12:30PM - 1:00PM. Anyone who is interested in being involved with tMed this year, please attend the meeting or send Lei (lei.xia@usask.ca) or James (james.zheng@usask.ca) an email.

~Come spread the gospel and make our college more tech friendly/dominating.

Wireless Electricity

The medical applications of wireless power is endless. Batteries is one of the greatest challenges to any implants or nanotechnology.

iUsask

What: iUsask is a free iPod Touch & iPhone app that allows you to access lots of info, sorta like PAWS
Who: Developed by the UofS, it's the first of its kind for Canadian university students
Where do I download it: Apple App Store

Via PAWS Blog - Read

PDF Editors

This morning as I was scrambling to download all of the notes for our classes tomorrow, I realized that the majority of the notes are in pdf. Since I am going to make the attempt at studying from my computer this year rather than printing a forest worth of notes, I did a little searching for pdf editors so that I can make my own comments on the pdf notes. The two editors that I have personally tried are Foxit PDF editor for Windows and I'm currently trying out PDFpen for Mac. The following are links to the web pages where you can download a free trial of each editor:

Foxit for Windows users:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/editor/

PDFpen for Mac users:
http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/

See everyone tomorrow!

-Jill

iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, Android, or WinMo for med?

Wondering what mobile device to get as a med student, well we're putting together a comprehensive article to answer that question. We'll let you know all the benefits and weaknesses for each, and then finally what we think. Stay tuned!~

NewScientist: A Wii warm-up hones surgical skills

Idea: one hour warm-up on the Wii (Marble Mania) makes you better surgeon!
Proof: "Wii-playing residents scored 48 per cent higher on tool control and performance than those without the Wii warm-up"
Reasoning: surgery = fine motor skills
Use: $250 surgery training tool for the developing world
Future: developing realistic surgery procedures software
Remarks: Wii's in our classroom! no study on Halo or the Sims yet

Via NewScientist - Read

Wired: Virtual Reality Could Keep You From Being a Surgical Guinea Pig

Idea: virtual surgery makes surgery training safer
Proof: dead or scarred patients?
Use: train new surgeons, practice patient data customized procedures
Future: learn, practice, and get licensed this way
Remarks: touch feedback & custom drill sounds are clutch!

Via Wired - Read

Because computers need love too...

Technology in Medicine (tMed) can sometimes be intimidating, out-of-date, or just simply frustrating to use. But if you subscribe to Asimov’s Laws of Robotic (ex: iRobot) and not Terminator’s Skynet, then you’d appreciate technology is here to help us, not destroy us.

tMed is a love-child conceived by Lei and James Z. when they were in first year medicine. The goal of tMed is to help make your lives in medicine easier with the technology you have to work with.

Main goals:

• Information sessions/blog posts (bring your tech problems to us)
• Technology advocacy (ex: improving the academic calendar system in the CoM)
• Tech support for fellow classmates and professors (If there's something strange in your neighborhood, Who ya gonna call?)
  

Topics covered last year:

• Tackling one45 and Blackboard
• Adding calendars to your mobile devices and laptops (iCal)
• PAWS/Blackboard email forwarding
• Gmail and Google Calendar
• Adding notes to PDFs
• Backing up data! (how many students have to lose all their school notes before someone cares)
  

Future plans:

• Changing PDFs to other formats
• Importing a custom contact list
  
• Laser printer vs. Ink printer (Please buy laser)
• Orientation on RSS feeds & Twitter
• How to buy a laptop or mobile device
• Time Machine & backing up
  
• Classroom multimedia equipment
• Horror stories of lost data!
• And much more!
  

If you are tech savy or just care about this wonderful cause, email Lei (lei.xia@usask.ca) or James (james.zheng@usask.ca) for more info. Diphile, DaveRishi, James H., and Jill all helped out with tMed in its inaugural year, so talk to them too!

Because computers need love too...

(Originally published in the SMSS First Year Handbook - 2013 Edition)

"TMED: "My hard drive crashed"..."Did you backup? "What mean backup?"

Looking back from the front of the classroom I see rows upon rows of black, silver and white Mac laptops and Mike's Thinkpad wannabe Mac.

With many of us using laptops and not printed notes be prepared to lose all your data! No Mac or PC is immune to a hard drive crash. This can happen at anytime or worse just before your MOD 7 exam--not to cause widespread panic.

Most of us know to backup our data, but we don't do it or don't do it often enough. To prevent loss of data, the most simple and least expensive method is to buy a external hard drive or large USB thumb drive and back up your most important music, photos, documents and of course lecture notes. Alternatively, you can backup everything up with backup software, but that takes an excessive amount of time.

Most laptops have hidden partitions, areas on the hard drive with the operating system and key programs that you can use to recover you computer, but you are responsible for your own files.

So if you have not done so already, please cozy up to your computer and back everything up.

Future Shop has a large selection USB drives and external hard drives. Also check out Campus Computer Store's selection of external hard drives and USB drives

I am not receiving any commission or benefit from the above businesses, although I think I should.

(Originally posted on fife2012.ca by James Z.)

Antivirus & Spyware Protection

If you don't have an antivirus, here is a free one from the UofS. Antivirus is like vaccines and yearly check-ups, it's better to have before you get sick.
Free Sophos Antivirus (Windows, Mac): www.usask.ca/its/hardware/sophos/

Spyware is like the cousin to the badass virus who robs banks (destroys your data). Spyware just siphons your gas and tries to sell you useless products on late-night TV.

Free Lavasoft Ad-Aware & Spybot - Search and Destroy (Windows) used in a cocktail drug combo will (hopefully) get rid of all your spyware. Please read the label first. Ask me if you have any questions.

(Originally posted on fife2012.ca by Lei)

Help!, iCal, Sunbird

Anyone know how to download the module 6 videos off of blackboard? Thanks! I figured it out, if you want the videos or want to know how, talk to me.

iCal (Mac users can use these links to add each calendar to iCal; please use the calendar>subscribe option, then past the links individually)
one45 - http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/gb44bbnltvecs100lt35dal0ro%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Career Dialogues - http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/gcvomguut944qpvdchn2kj86ik%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Tests, Quizzes, Assignments - http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/39142ha8m1ie6oau9k828h3ias%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
SMSS - http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/smss2012%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics

These addresses can also be used by Windows users. Check out Mozilla Sunbird (free program)!

(Originally posted on fife2012 by Lei)