Learning How To Learn A Guide For Indian Doctors

Your professional knowledgebase is your biggest asset
As medical science progresses, you need to keep up with current trends
However…

You are very busy taking care of your patients . It’s hard to find the time to update yourself!

However, if you become outdated, you will end up losing your patients to other doctors.

This can also be embarrassing , when patients with internet printouts know more about their disease than you do !

Also, this failure to update yourself with the latest medical knowledge can result is lawsuits for medical negligence – the doctor’s biggest nightmare.

We need to find better ways to help busy doctors stay current.

When do you need to search ?
To answer a specific patient-related question
Complex problem
Rare problem
Multi-system problem
To keep up with new clinical developments
For medical conferences

Self-learning
You need to learn how to learn
You will no longer be taught
You need to take responsibility for your own learning
This is a lifelong process
Need to develop good habits !

Secrets of how to remember what you learn
1. Apply what you learn. Learning about your present patient’s problems will ensure the information “sticks” !
2. Teach someone else
Patients
Conference
Colleagues

Secrets of how to remember what you learn
3. Find high quality information when you need it and where you need it

Quality of information
Information needs to be
Easy to find instantly
AND
Relevant ( so you can apply it in real life !)
Authoritative and trustworthy
Current
Utility of information = Relevance X Quality/ Work

How do you learn about new advances ?
Medical literature ( books and journals)
Medical Conferences
Colleagues and
Consultants
Medical representatives ( MRs)
Patients
Internet

Medical literature ( books and journals)
Problems
Few doctors have access to a medical library
Don’t have the time to use it !
Medical books are very expensive ( an get outdated quickly)
Journals are unaffordable

2. Medical conferences
Problems
Difficult to find the time to attend these
Can be poor quality
Mostly opportunities to socialise, rather than learn
Topics may not be what you want to learn or need to learn, so you forget what is heard very quickly

3. Colleagues and consultants
Problems
Not always available when you need them
May have a “hidden agenda”
May not be good teachers
May confuse you by “ complexifying “ matters

4. Medical representatives
Problems
Information they provide is not always reliable
They tell you what they want you to know – not what you need to learn
Have a “hidden agenda”

5. Patients
Can be your best teachers, if you allow them to teach you
All good doctors learn from their patients all the time
Problems
Information they provide is not always reliable

6. What about the Internet ?
Problems
Designed for consumers, not doctors
Easy to search – hard to find the right information !
Doctors are busy people – want the right information now !

Websites
PubMed ( MedLine)
Cochrane database
Not much information – only abstracts !
Good for overview
Not authoritative – no standard medical text books or references

Websites
Medscape and emedicine.com
Not authoritative – no standard medical text books or references
Too many distracting advertisements

Free online medical journals
BioMedCentral ( open source publishing) www.biomedcentral.com
www.freemedicaljournals.com
http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl
Most leading medical journals offer free access only to older articles

Free online medical books
http://www.freebooks4doctors.com/
Not standard ( authoritative) medical reference text books ( such as Harrison’s)

Wish list ?
Website for doctors only
From world’s leading medical publisher
Full-text
Both medical text books and medical journals
Cover all specialties
Ad-free !

Solution !
www.mdconsult.com
Sign up for a free 30 day demo !
You can be proud of your knowledgebase
Educate your colleagues and peers

Objections
1. How does one find the time to learn when you are swamped with patients ?
Each patient is a “teaching opportunity” – make the most of it !
Not learning is being untrue to yourself – and to your patients
Ignorance can be expensive !

Teaching patients – and learning from them !
Search for the information in front of your patient
Share the information with him !
Great way of showing that you care !
Let him search for the information, and share it with you – you’ll both benefit !

Objections
2. Isn’t this expensive
Not all good things in life are free !
MDConsult personal subscriptions for doctors in India are available at a highly subsidised price of Rs 9995 only per year from HELP
More info at www.thebestmedicalcare.com
This is tax deductible
You can get a pharma company to gift this to you

Demonstration

http://doctorandpatient.blogspot.com	20
http://blog.drmalpani.com	17
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Learning How To Learn A Guide For Indian Doctors

by Aniruddha Malpani on Aug 01, 2009

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Learning How To Learn A Guide For Indian Doctors — Presentation Transcript