December 30th, 2008
News today that patients will be able to rate and review their GP on the NHS website by users leaving anonymous comments has been met with mixed response. Since April, NHS Choices has allowed patients to post comments on hospitals and this pushes the concept further.
The guardian states “Analysis of the first 6,500 comments [about hospitals] showed 24% were positive, 27% negative and the rest were balanced or neutral.”
At Medical Educator we are positive about this move – embracing the new technologies to form a closer connection with what people think. Like the leave a comment function on this site, some of the best feedback we get is from the users of the site.
What do you think about the move?
December 22nd, 2008
Our early results are in, and we’re happy to be able to publish the scores so far from our users on the main site.
As more people are completing the questions in our full membership, we’re now able to compile some stats to help our students get a flavour of how they are doing.
Check out our average scores: how do you think you will do?
Remember, these are a guide: we have students predominantly from the UK and across Europe completing the questions, from all years using different revision techniques. But its still fun….
Why not register and see how you do!
December 22nd, 2008
Finally you can have access to a site that will allow you to revise on the move:
Do you have a web enabled mobile phone? If so then you can use it to revise when you’re on the move. Do our our questions, videos and PDF guides from your mobile phone. It couldn’t be easier.
Our pictures should appear as normal, and you can select the answers just like you did before.
Want to try it? Just register (this is easier on the main site) and browse away from your phone. Once you’ve registered for full membership or our free trial you can try it out.
December 17th, 2008
We’re launching our podcast service in the coming weeks. It will include history interpretation, exam guides and the like.
Try listening to our sample audio.
Enjoy!
December 17th, 2008
Our free trial has now been taken by international students. Our questions are deliberately tough. Why not try a sample of the questions from the site and see how you compare to the rest of the students sitting the questions.
Our current average on the trial questions (20 marks) is
46%
That’s because our questions are tough. They’re not about knowledge, but the application of knowledge, exactly what your medical school will be interested in when they set their own benchmark…
Try out questions like the one below on our free trial.
December 8th, 2008
The Irish Government made a decision on Sunday 7th December following concerns regarding the presence of dioxins in pork tissue. The exact source of entry into the food chain is unknown, but may be part of a contaminated food stuff for the animals
The levels of dioxin in foodstuffs is unlikely to have any effect on human health, however all products have been withdrawn on a precautionary basis.
Dioxins are basically fat soluble chemicals which at high doses can have effects including chloracne, made famous by “spot” diagnosis of President Viktor Yushchenko. Professor Saurat, interviewed by Reuters said
“There is no doubt whatsoever that this was a very serious case of dioxin poisoning … there is no other way that that amount could have got into his body by accident,”
Yushenko’s facial appearance still clearly bears the hallmarks of chloracne, the charecteristic facial appearance that occurs in Dioxin poisioning.
The other notable dioxin incident is was following an industrial accident in Serveso, a town north of Milan, Italy. Over 250,000 people were at risk of exposure to exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). The toxic effects of dioxins are still not fully understood, however a study by the American Journal of Epidemiology concluded
“A toxic and carcinogenic risk to humans after high TCDD exposure is supported by the results of this study.”
We await further information from the Irish Government.
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