open-source med notes and resources

[democoda]

http://www.pimpnotes.org

i started an open-source med notes site under creative commons licensing, where students can download free resources and correct/contribute and upload anything they want to offer. there are a lot of sites out there that have discussions, forums, info, links, etc, but they tend to not be well-defined.

i am a programmer as well, with an enthusiasm for progressive open-source projects that are committed to free dissemination of knowledge and resources, with equal commitment of the community to maintain and make those resources even better. with the right community support, pimpnotes can evolve to be an important resource for sharing large and useful projects.

i have published the following items thus far
>> the grids : the grids are a systems-based pathology guide in grid format that makes comparisons between disease much easier than leafing through BRS for the boards, baby robbins, and others. it has all the key info from those resources, along with accuracy checks while reviewing and testing on the step 1 q-bank to ensure relevance to info we are tested on.

>> bugs: the bugs charts i created to help organize all gram (+) and gram (-) bugs with most common (and most commonly tested) disease, along with lab prep tests and treatments. again, this was checked while testing, too.

>> pharm: pharm charts take the most tested drugs outlined in major step 1 guides and puts them into a much easier study format--again with grids. this helps to compare, contrast, group, etc.

>> flash cards: the flash cards are an immense immense project that is probably 1/2 done. it's currently about 400+ pages printed out, each flash card covering the most common diseases, from a to z. it takes large, often-times 30+ page articles from up-to-date and emedicine, and condenses them into flash card format without losing the details. i've used standardized formatting and then replaced common text with symbols, so that you can review all the microscopic detail and see how it all leads to clinical presentation. i'd love to recruit some people who would like to contribute to making more cards along this series. i've finished many systems, but there are always more to come. . .

if you are interested, please visit www.pimpnotes.org to learn more and write me at <theman><at><pimpnotes><dot><org>

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[Twitch]

Great Idea. A couple of thoughts. What were you thoughts on contribution from authors? Did you want us to email you and you'll update? Perhaps something more like a wiki would be appropriate so as not to overwhelm you with tidbits. For XLS collaboration you'll probably need a sharepoint site. Something like a wiki where folks can update, take responsibility for various areas.

Personally, I'd like to see subject matter experts (SME's) for micro, pharm, biochem, behav. sc., anatomy, etc. pretty much in line with the step1 areas be assigned mods for their specialty. Everyone can obviously contribute.

On appearances, the text size, color use, etc. - perhaps something else we can borrow from wiki. Have you talked with Lee about this yet?

Keep us posted.

 

[OncoCaP]

This is a very interesting project. I'm entering medical school in 2007 and very computer-oriented. I hope that most if not all of the information I'm provided with is a covenient electronic format, but I'm not very optimistic about that. I actually thought about creating a web site served by a database and making my own study information available to fellow students who would be eligible to access the information (I would give them an account/password). I would probably password protect it due to copyright issues and to keep vandals out (also making it public raises copyright concerns as far as I can tell). Thus, I'm actually interested in this kind of thing. Since you have already (impressively!) put a lot of this together, I have a couple of questions on how (or if) you have addressed the following:

1. Are the sources of your information such that you can put this information into the public domain? I'm not sure about the details of copyright law, but one of the things that I worry about in making electronic versions of med school information available is getting permission from the sources of that information and that such permission would be required. Your information might be original research, but even so, you probably should cite sources? Even though it might be possible to get away with not securing such permission, I make an effort to be ethical (and legal) in my actions anyway.

2. Excel spreadsheets are convenient for transferring and formatting information like this. Does this information reside in a true database or are the spreadsheets your database? Any comments on spreadsheets vs databases here?

(P.S. I like the Wiki idea and getting advice from someone like Lee)

 

[democoda]

hey OncoCaP and Twitch. thanks for responding. i appreciate your interest in this project and with your help (and the help of others), i think we can make this into a bigger and better resource.

let me address your comments/questions one by one:

1. Are the sources of your information such that you can put this information into the public domain?

--i asked the guy who wrote the rediculously simple series about this. and the way it works (in pedestrian terms that i use) is that there are known facts in medical literature that are not subject to copyright. there is a fine line between what is widely considered canonical knowledge and what is cutting-edge research (content which may be proprietary) and then its way to becoming canonical. the information on pimpnotes attempts to represent only common-knowledge in evidence-based medicine. there is no single source of information and there is no individual source of information that resembles pimpnotes. that said, the info presented should be consistent with lots of sources, but nothing verbatum. from an ethical standpoint, i think plagiarism is the highest academic offense one could make. and so in writing pimpnotes, i was very careful to check and recheck, edit and re-edit, based on multiple references. another point is that you'll find so many references in medical notes, flashcards, aids/guides, etc. that do not have a giant bibliography as you would find in robins. this is knowledge/data presented in different formats and all is fair game. i followed suit and just went for it. if there is anything that violates copyright or intellectual property rights, it's my responsibility to modify to comply. i don't anticipate this happening, but should it happen, a quick edit on my part will bring pimpnotes into compliance again.

2. Excel spreadsheets are convenient for transferring and formatting information like this. Does this information reside in a true database or are the spreadsheets your database? Any comments on spreadsheets vs databases here?

--this is all in xls format and there is no formal database to speak of. as a programmer, i've thought about making this a php/msql project in wiki format, as suggested, but it's hard to deal with formatting issues and standardization of content format, which is one of the strong points of the xls format i chose. xls is not optimal in the long-term, and eventually a wiki-style note system would be better through public revision. let's go wiki, if someone wants to set that up, as well. it's easy to imagine how a wiki STEP 1 and STEP 2 study guide would sweep the medical community, nationwide. that would be an incredibly useful project. one that could very well upset the folks at first-aid!

i'm open to having the data transferred to wiki, if someone wants to do it.

(P.S. I like the Wiki idea and getting advice from someone like Lee)

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QUESTION:
What were you thoughts on contribution from authors? Did you want us to email you and you'll update? Perhaps something more like a wiki would be appropriate so as not to overwhelm you with tidbits. For XLS collaboration you'll probably need a sharepoint site. Something like a wiki where folks can update, take responsibility for various areas.

--i threw the site up in a day just so the content is available. but i wasn't certain on how interested people were in collaborating, so i didn't build the functionality of a file management system. you suggest sharepoint site for xls or possibly wiki format. i'm not sure where to go, since xls has a very nice format for printing out (i can set print field values with VBA and have macros that ensure proper printing--this i should do soon!). but wiki looks to be more promising, since users can format things and use richer text formatting.

--what do i think about author contribution? i'd love it! this is truly an open-source project, so the question is more like "what do we all think of author contributions to pimpnotes?" we dig it!

Personally, I'd like to see subject matter experts (SME's) for micro, pharm, biochem, behav. sc., anatomy, etc. pretty much in line with the step1 areas be assigned mods for their specialty. Everyone can obviously contribute.

--i agree. if we have various students focus on one area, no doubt the info that arises will be tighter than just one loner attempting it himself :S -- this is why i wanted to go creative commons with the project. so i think sme is a great suggestion and would like to head that direction as well.

QUESTIONS TO YOU GUYS

 

[democoda]

sorry, didn't finish that last note.

so for all who want to collaborate on this project, we'll need a collaboration management forum (phpBB? bugzilla? other open-source project mgt code?). i haven't set up a wiki yet, though i imagine it's not complicated.

twitch and cap, email me at [email protected] and we can talk about how to proceed. i'd love to hear your thoughts on setting it up well and then proceed from there.

best!

 

[OncoCaP]

I like your ideas on this. I sent you an e-mail to follow up.

 

[Twitch]

Got your PM. I still think wiki is the way to go. Here is what I found currently exists:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USMLE#Step_1
-> Links to ->
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/USMLE_Step_One_Review

As you can see it's still in it's infancy and needs quite a bit of work. The potential of this is immense.