Planning cont. (Days 3 & 4)

Getting closer now, until I finally begin actually designing this resource. I genuinely don't think people understand that there is actually such a degree of background work that goes into producing a usable resource that is actually beneficial.

I have been asked to have a think about the clinical problem I am going to focus on for my learning resource. In my case I think I am going to have a run through scenario in the management of a transfusion reaction, as we normally are told the science behind it but never the actual management steps that we need to take other than in one session in clinical skills. So I thought it would be useful to have this scenario to work through in a safe environment with instant feedback.

A mild/moderate acute transfusion reaction will be the focus of my resource as the patient could present with a complaint as generic as an itch or a fever, or even just a sense that something just isn't right, so the student/doctor needs to be aware that this person is receiving a blood transfusion and is therefore at risk of developing one of these reactions.

My Blood Transfusion Mind Map

The number of different sites and pages that I have visited in the past day alone in order to find different pieces of information to even provide a brief overview of a transfusion reaction would be quite overwhelming if I didn't have a useful way to deal with all of them.

Fortunately in my previous SSC I was introduced to Mendeley where I could save websites and articles with the click of a button on Chrome. Mendeley has the added bonus of creating reference lists and possesses an extension for Microsoft word which allows me to add my references and keep track of all those that have been added really simply. It also means that if I am going back over my essay and realise I need to add a new reference between two existing references (an absolute nightmare with vancouver referencing normally), Mendeley automatically adjusts the numbers of the citations to account for this. Basically just a brilliant little tool to have, I'm just disappointed I didn't know about it sooner.

After checking out #FOAMed I thought I would share one of the cooler things that I managed to find on the page, currently unsure whether or not it is actually appropriate to share this on my blog however after checking and confirming it will be up here quick as I can, as I personally thought it was pretty cool and hopefully everybody else does too.

So the idea behind my learning resource scenario is finally coming together and it seems I'm getting closer and closer to actually making it, however hopefully having done plenty of appropriate preparation I shouldn't run into any issues when actually designing the resource.

Until next time...

Unknown

Author & Editor

Third Year Medical Student