The final day of the ISDMISEHC conference took a closer look at some of the key issues of the future. Professor Sharon Straus started the day with a keynote address about the challenges of implementation (or why she has the best job in the world). I’m going to take some time to summarise her key […]
Category: Uncategorized
Lyndal Trevena: Reflections on Day 2 of #ISDMISEHC Sydney 2015
The second day of ISDMISEHC saw a lot of engagement on social media and a lot of interest from clinicians, patients, and policymakers around the world. Professor Alex Barratt from The University of Sydney started the day with a keynote address on over diagnosis which highlighted some of the methodological challenges of getting accurate evidence, […]
How can we improve the availability and use of health research in developing countries?
Global health is fundamentally dependent on the availability and use of health research. It is well known that much research is of poor quality, is not applicable to low-resource settings, and/or is not even published (sometimes for commercial reasons). Nevertheless there is of course a massive and growing body of research that *is* of high […]
David Moher and Rustam Al-Shahi Salman: How can research be improved and waste reduced?
We shudder to think about the amount of paper and computer screen pixels used to report on the very sad state of biomedical research. This journal and others have been vocal on the subject and have published many relevant articles on a variety of topics related to the theme. In […]
Shiva Raj Mishra and Dinesh Neupane: How small local NGOs responded to Nepal’s earthquake
Nepal’s earthquake affected 30 of its 75 districts taking the lives of nearly 8,604 people. 16,808 people were injured. About 3 million were displaced during two major earthquakes less than two week apart and hundreds of aftershocks. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that it destroyed 285 000 houses. Immediately after the […]
Toby Shipway: Too hot to handle—hyperthermia in the V8’s
The spectacle and ceremony of the V8’s came to Darwin recently. Personalised saloon cars, a little like my grandfather used to drive, have been rebuilt and given a mechanical boost to reach speeds of 300kph. They are the showpiece of a touring racecar event that visits a number of racetracks around Australia every year. Preened […]
Toby Shipway: Down the wire
“Down the wire” is the process of winching down and up from a helicopter to locations otherwise inaccessible. It’s a phrase that I associate with films involving Navy Seals, the SAS, and the effervescent Steven Seagal; not, and lets make this clear, me. So, you can imagine my surprise to find myself in a classroom, […]
Toby Shipway: Ticking away
It is surprising how young some patients in the Northern Territory, Australia, present with medical conditions that are traditionally the preserve of older patients. I am sitting in a clinic room on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is 3:30 am and there is a patient in their late 20s in front of […]
Evidence Live—Dangerous ideas for the future of evidence based healthcare
Evidence Live 2015 is underway. Once again there is an international line up of speakers to stimulate thought debate and action. We would like you to consider throughout the conference dangerous ideas for the future of evidence based healthcare. Closing the gap between evidence and clinical practice remains a weighty issue to solve. To improve on […]
Toby Shipway: The Intrepid Fenton
The Intrepid Fenton A few geographical facts: the Northern Territory in Australia is 1.36 million km2. This equates to 5½ times the area of the UK. It contains a population of just 230,000 people of which 130,000 live in Darwin and the surrounding area. It is a vast area with very spread out communities and […]