X Gonna Give It To Ya

A gentle street poet named Earl Simmons once penned the words, “X Gonna Give It To Ya”. I can’t remember the next line of the stanza, but I think it may have been, “If You Let it”. He may very well have been talking about Stanford Medicine X, because you kind of have to be open to what it has to offer. But if you are, it will deliver quite an experience.

As usual, #MedX started well before the conference proper with the pre-conference which generated an outpouring of tweets and other activities leading up to its kickoff this year and throughout the conference. If there is any doubt, the fine folks at Symplur have put that question to bed.

I know I said it’s not about the numbers … but here are the numbers at #MedX 🙂 http://t.co/4lSucHS03M

— Thomas M. Lee (@tmlfox) September 8, 2014

From the pre-conference, there was a high-utility tweetstream for anyone interested in clinical trial design, particularly those seeking ways to integrate the patient. From afar, it appeared the workshop was very effective in introducing epatients to the complexities and headaches of clinical trial design and execution AND in introducing researchers to what epatients really care and think about with clinical trials.

InstaRx

Identifying and evaluating apps for clinical practice

Recently I was invited to participate on an article by some of the fine folks at iMedicalApps. While I had done some things with them in the past dating back to a guest post in 2011, including providing early coverage of Medicine 2.0 @ Stanford, I had never collaborated with them on a conventional journal article. In this case, the effort was led by fellow pharmacist Timothy Aungst, PharmD as part of his efforts to bring a stronger eye of assessment to the unsettled world of medical apps. This particular effort yielded the article, “How to identify, assess and utilise mobile medical applications in clinical practice”, which was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice. The aim of the article is basically outlined in the title. This was to be a practical paper for a clinician audience highlighting key aspects of the steps for: 1) identifying, 2) assessing, and 3) using medical apps. I believe a good paper came out of this collaboration and it certainly sparked the most creatively titled editorial comment (Battle for the Planet of the Apps).

Source: Aungst TD, Clauson KA, Misra S, Lewis TL, Husain I. How to identify, assess and utilise mobile medical applications in clinical practice. Int J Clin Pract. 2014;68(2):155-62. doi: 10.1111/ijcp.12375.

@kevinclauson

Stanford Med X 2013: Postcards from Summer Camp

Med X: Now with even more glow sticks and ePatients!

It’s always tough to sum up a wonderful, weekend-long experience like Summer Camp Stanford Medicine X, so I will focus on what stood out the most for me.*

Damn, These Cabins Are Nice
As always, @larrychu and his what-seems-like-a-small-army-of-a-team did a fantastic job of creating a unique conference experience…from the sea of smiling faces to the thoughtfulness put into everything ranging from the weight of the paper to the quality of the video production to the eyebrow-raising badges. I think it says a lot that student volunteers from last year’s Med X traveled back from medical schools like Yale and OHSU to be there this year.

The potential of mHealth in pharmacy

The next frontier in healthcare? The next step in patient-centered delivery of health services? Technology’s next overhyped bubble? There are grains of truth in all of these labels that have been given to mHealth. However, what is beyond debate is that there are opportunities with mHealth. In particular, I am optimistic about the opportunities with mHealth for pharmacists. To that end, I asked several colleagues to help outline the potential of this informatics arena. Those efforts were recently published as an article in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacists (AJHP). My hopes are that this article serves to increase awareness of these opportunities and perhaps spurs some pharmacists to capitalize.

@kevinclauson

Source: Clauson KA, Elrod S, Fox BI, Hajar Z, Dzenowagis JH. Opportunities for pharmacists in mobile health. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2013;70(15):1348-1352.

Kevin A. Clauson, Pharm.D., is Associate Professor; and Shara Elrod, Pharm.D., is Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Brent I. Fox, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL. Zaher Hajar, Pharm.D., is Fellow in Consumer Health Informatics, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University. Joan H. Dzenowagis, Ph.D., is Senior Scientist e-Health World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

What do pharmacy students think about #socialmedia for education?

Dr. John Sandars has been looking at the roles of technology in medical education for many years. So when we decided to look at use of social media by pharmacy students (and their thoughts in particular on its use in education and engagement) I sought him out. As with any good collaboration, everybody brings a little bit to the table, and this one was no exception. Our article “Social media use and educational preferences among first-year pharmacy students” was recently published in the journal Teaching and Learning in Medicine.

@kevinclauson

McKesson IdeaShare 2013 Schedule

McKess ideaShare Brochure

Trends in Technology, Mobile, and Education

Mary Meeker from KPCB recently delivered her gallery of “2013 Internet Trends” at the All Things D conference (#D11). I was originally directed to this data marathon from the mobile perspective via Brian Dolan (@mobilehealth). However, Meeker’s presentation is much more than that. It is a sprawling look at the Internet of Things, Traditional Industries Being Re-Imagined, and Sharing Everything. Fortunately, her mammoth 117-slide deck (that was delivered quickly in just 20 minutes; video here) has been placed on @Slideshare.

It is a lot to process, but here are just a few points that jumped out at me from Meeker’s presentation:

• The average smartphone user reaches for his/her device 150 times a day (what does this hint at for wearables?)
• Percentage of residents who ‘share everything’ or ‘most everything’ online: USA (15%) compared to Saudi Arabia (60%)
• JD.com offers same day package delivery with real-time map tracking…often by bike…in China
• Amazon was the third largest provider of tablets in 2012 (behind Apple & Samsung); overall tablet growth has outpaced smartphone growth
• 77% of academic leaders at 2,800 colleges perceive online education as the same or superior versus face-to-face education
• Top “Learning Tools” from “learning professionals” worldwide included: 1. Twitter 2. YouTube 3. Google Docs…7. Skype 8. PowerPoint…12. Evernote 13. Slideshare 14. Prezi
• Mary Meeker is funny, who knew?

Again, there is a lot of information here and some require a deeper dive, but this is a great resource to answer some questions and stimulate more.

@kevinclauson

Pharmacists’ use of Twitter

Analysis of pharmacists’ use of Twitter.
American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 2014;71(8):615-9. doi: 10.2146/ajhp130307.
Hajar Z, Clauson KA, Jacobs RJ.

The link to the article above is active, but it did not have an abstract to excerpt…so in lieu of that, please accept the following poster from yesteryear.

 

 

ASHP Guide to Residency Prep

Since the demand for pharmacy residency spots far outstrips the supply – only about 60% of students match nationally – my colleagues Josh Caballero, PharmD, BCPP and Sandra Benavides, PharmD created a course to better prepare students at our College of Pharmacy to pursue a residency. Over the next couple of years, students completing that course went on to match 80% of the time. That success eventually turned into the recently published book, Get The Residency:  ASHP’s Guide to Residency Interviews and Preparation edited by Drs. Caballero, Benavides, and I. The book was written in collaboration with faculty, clinicians, and residency program directors from across the country. I am pleased that it has been well received by students and reviewers alike and has entered its second printing.

@kevinclauson