bioneural.net » Musings

A return to academia

Bruce — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:58:04 +0000

With introductory week and the first week of lectures behind me it seems like an opportune time to reflect on my initial experiences upon returning to campus. I'm hoping to relearn some of what I thought I knew about "health", gaining a perspective somewhat removed from my erstwhile clinical observation of individuals. To do this I need to study new subjects, fully engage with a new learning environment, take on the new adventure of commuting by public transport, and consider utilizing opportunities for extracurricular learning and activities. Different courses for different horses It's 16 years since I last graduated from a university, and I'm at the beginning of an intensive postgraduate taught course that should lead, initially, to a Master of Public Health. Full-time study entails 2 days of direct teaching but most postgraduate education is self-directed (they say 3 hours of independent study for every hour taught). Other buzz words used to distinguish it from undergraduate teaching include "critical thinking", "challenging assumptions", and "problem-centered learning". A Master degree requires 180 credits—60 of those being derived from a dissertation. There are four core (obligatory) modules on my course worth 15 credits each, all delivered in the first semester: Introduction to public health; Introduction to research methods; Introduction to statistics; Needs assessment, planning and economic evaluation. I have made up the remaining 60 credits by choosing the following optional modules: Systematic review and critical appraisal (systematic reviews are one of three possible dissertation types, and good preparation for a PhD); Epidemiological research design (essential for the FPH exam—see below); Public health ...

Transitions

Bruce — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:00:49 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

When I met with Professor Crampton from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago in Wellington last year, I was concerned about the difficulty I might face in making a transition from general practice (focussing on the problems of individuals) to public health (focussing on the problems of communities). The Prof. helpfully drew a graph on his whiteboard that I duly jotted down, illustrating three other crucial aspects of a career transition to be aware of aside from a shift in mindset.Beware of the dip The graph he drew is actually pretty generic, applicable to virtually any career transition (as in significant change that involves re-training; I'm not talking about getting promoted). Anyway, I've jazzed it up a bit and added in a "sink or swim" metaphor: Beware of the dip: keep swimming, or risk sinking I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but in case not it suggests that as you move over time from career A into career B you will experience a drop in professional competence, income, and self-esteem. As you become established in the new career, these losses are reversed. But there is a danger period in which you are not competent in the procedures & practice of either career, not well remunerated, and not feeling all that great about being in a kind of limbo. The best way to survive it, the Prof. says, is to tell everyone around you about it so they know to expect it and come to understand it. Sounds like good advice ...

New Zealand tipping over the edge?

Bruce — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:17:44 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Are New Zealanders, the People on the Edge of the World, about to tip off the edge and into cultural homogeneity with the United States? I was surprised to read in The New Zealand Herald that the a new edition of the Lonely Planet travel guide is advising visitors to leave a tip of about 10% for good service. Tipping was not part of the culture when I was growing up, and nor was it an overt practice during my last stint at home during 2006–2007. It would be unfortunate if visitors to Godzone came with the expectation that they had to pay over and above the advertized price. All goods and services in New Zealand are subject to a 12.5% Goods and Services Tax (GST), included in the displayed price. I was also under the impression that most employees (such as wait staff) were adequately remunerated so that they did not need to rely on tips for income, as I believe is the case in the USA and some other countries (where workers aren't properly paid). I don't like the phenomenon of tipping. I've always found it uncomfortable as a traveller knowing when to tip and by how much. I want to look at a menu and know in advance what I'll be paying—just as I can buy a new keyboard for a fixed price without thinking about the 10–15% extra it might cost if the sales assistant demonstrates competence with the card reader. But more than that I resent ...

New Zealand progressive on fair use laws

Bruce — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:12:48 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

As reported by Ars Technica, the New Zealand House of Representatives passed a bill on 8 April 2008 reforming copyright law for the "digital age". Most netizens even outside the US will have come across the American DMCA: any mention seems tainted by the taste of bile. The DMCA criminalises circumvention of digital rights management (DRM) technologies and access controls—many folk argue at the expense of "fair use". Do the NZ reforms provide workable compromise? Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand [© iStockPhoto] Ars cite a Canadian law professor as saying: The anti-circumvention provisions are arguably the best of any country, since they are compliant with WIPO, limited in scope, and seek to preserve fair dealing rights. Having looked at the new Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Bill I find myself almost as confused as I was before; it raises at least as many questions as it answers. Time and format shifting I've always wondered exactly how recording a TV programme to VHS tape, DVD+RW, or PVR hard drives sat with current copyright laws. It must be pretty unusual to walk into a living room and not find the home owner's favourite TV series or movie archived on recordable media for repeated viewing at their leisure. Fortunately the bill specifies that anyone watching TV that isn't "live" is no longer engaged in a criminal act (recording of an on-demand broadcast isn't allowed). It does mean, however, that domestic recording libraries are still illegal: you must watch your recordings within a "reasonable" time frame and then delete them. No ...

iTunes freebies are worth checking out

Bruce — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:15:54 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

While generally in life you get what you pay for, there are rare instances when the reverse is true. Since their launch I've been fairly regularly checking out the free Single of the Week on the iTunes Music Store (UK and NZ editions). A 30 second preview is enough to decide if it's worth a download or not, and I have discovered some real gems from artists I hadn't previously heard of. Here are the "keepers" from my Freebies playlist; I hope you find something that tickles your fancy too. The following list is a bit eclectic, with a good proportion not sung in the English language. I'm no music critic—I either like it or I don't. I don't have the knowledge to describe the merits of each track or even what it is that appeals, so I won't try. Music doesn't have to justify itself. In no particular order: iTMS link Track and artist NZ Say You'll Stay by Luke Thompson NZ Be Bad by Low Rider NZ To the Light (Acoustic Version) by Newton Faulkner UK Hot Tears by Sarabeth Tucek UK Nobody's Fault But Mine by Beth Rowley UK More Rock 'n' Roll by Ruarri Joseph UK Cler Achel by Tinariwen UK Lalala by Julien Civange and Louis Haeri UK Thin Blue Flame by Josh Ritter UK Multiply by Jamie Lidell UK Mi Tierra by Guitarra De Pasión UK Congoleo by Angélique Kidjo UK Counting to Sleep by Wallis Bird UK Totally Underwater by Shelly Poole UK The Nomad by Niraj Chag UK Come & Get It by Lady Ragga NZ Mama by Kate Miller-Heidke Surely there's at least one track on that list you have to have? If I had to pick "favourites", they would ...

Saving Miss Daisy

Bruce — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:08:55 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Welcoming in a New Year is as good a time as any for reflection. Rather than make traditional resolutions or goals (I've done my fair share of reflection recently), I've decided to focus briefly on a single but not insignificant issue: survival. All life wants to survive (unless it's ill), because that is its common purpose. Some human lives are more concerned with saving certain other lives (human, animal, plant) or, more generally, saving the planet. Does the planet need "saving", or do we? In the recently televised Earth: The Power of the Planet, a BBC series with Dr Iain Stewart, it was posed that the Earth was a rarity beyond popular recognition. A convincing argument was presented by citing various cosmological conditions that might prove Earth unique even in an infinite universe: The right distance from the sun for water to exist in a liquid state; The right mass to produce enough gravity to retain an atmosphere; The right moon to provide climatic stability (it reduces the planetary wobble that would otherwise cause extreme and frequent seasonal shifts); The right type of star (slow-burning and thus long-living); A nearby giant neighbour (Jupiter) whose massive gravity well deflects cosmic missiles. Perhaps there were other characteristics too, but those are the ones I recall mentioned in the program. Such conditions are postulated as essential to "give life a chance". Although it must be said that these may be the conditions required to support "our kind of life"—alien requirements may be quite different. But the long and short of ...

Hanging up the stethoscope

Bruce — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:56:35 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

The week just gone marked 15 years in medicine. Two of those years were spent in New Zealand, the rest in England, and the last 10 in general (family) practice. It also marked the end of my clinical career—I'm hanging up the stethoscope and starting down a new path. I don't yet know where that path begins, let alone where it leads. But it's something I have to do. Leaving clinical practice is not a rash decision; it was in fact made during Project Koru. I had wanted to re-train in public health, but my application to do so in New Zealand was rejected. For a variety of reasons re-training within the UK National Health Service holds little appeal. So I thought I could return to general practice for a time while I considered my options. Thus I returned to the despair, hopelessness, poverty, psychosomatic illness, the reek of stale sweat and urine in nursing homes, and of cigarette smoke that lingers in your clothes and hair. And I found that I just can't do it any more. Herewith I present an Ode to general practice: I don't want to stick my finger up any more bums; I've had my fill of free-range brats and control-less mums. A look at your tonsils and throat I ask; You cough in my face as I perform this task. Stop smoking and loose weight I hear myself say, But taking some responsibility is not your way. Your job/ lover/ mother is making you ill; Nothing I can fix with patience or pill. The poverty ...

A meme of eight random things

Bruce — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 01:15:16 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Baby-brained Lynn—a reference to present uterine cf. cerebral capacity—has tagged me to propagate a blog meme. What is a meme? We all know that genes transmit biological inheritance from one generation to another. Darwinist Richard Dawkins termed the concept of transmitting units of cultural inheritance a "meme". A meme is transmitted (e.g. by imitation or teaching) from person-to-person or group-to-group, as a single (e.g The Lord's Prayer) or related set of ideas/ concepts/ factoids (a "memeplex" e.g. Christianity) and—like genes—may be subject to mutation (the basis of Darwinian evolution). You can read more on this subject here. The term "memetics" is used to denote the study of memes. Memes seem to spread fairly rapidly on the web, so I guess you could think of them as a sort of ideological contagion. Many of these "ideas" may be deemed to be of passing value, and this would certainly seem to be the case for the chain letter kind of meme propagated from one blogger to the next. Some blog-propagated memes have a specific focus ("What is your favourite...?") while others are more general ("10 random things about me"). In a social networking sense that later type is particularly interesting, because it highlights how little those in the blogosphere know about each other. As an exercise, try listing 10 things you know about each of the most frequent visitors to your blog. Hard isn't it? I even tried to start a creative writing meme once, but it failed. Evolution is like that sometimes. On with the ...

Obesity arithmetic

Bruce — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:15:20 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

We took a couple of days between Anzac Day and the weekend to make a short holiday on the Wanganui River. At the place we stayed we were presented with meals that were impossibly huge, a diet that would super-size us in no time. In 2002-2003 one in three adult New Zealanders was overweight (excludes obese) and one in five adults was obese (MOH). Some people are quick to ascribe their weight problem (if they identify it as such) to extrinsic factors, such as genetics, time or financial constraints, marketing, or poor social support. However you rationalise it, being overweight or obese comes down to simple mathematics. The only certainty among all the theories is that energy and mass are interchangeable. Einstein had the answer Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2, relates the concept that all mass has an energy equivalence, and all energy has a mass equivalence. On this basis: You cannot create mass from nothing; The source of mass is energy; Less energy in leads to less mass out; Mass can be reduced by conversion to energy. Now energy isn't bad: we need it to keep moving, breathing, or even thinking. Think of yourself as like a car: you need a certain amount of fuel to get from A to B. If, when you come to the end of your journey, you still have fuel in the tank, you can store it there for later use (in the case of the body, as fat). If you finish the journey with an empty tank, you're going to have ...

Maui's fish and the origin of myth

Bruce — Sat, 12 May 2007 05:51:04 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

I've always enjoyed the myth concerning the origin of New Zealand's North Island, said to have been hauled out of the Pacific by Maui and his brothers. This story is one of several so wonderfully captured in an illustration by Dittmer, reproduced in a book belonging to my grandmother, which I still have and recently re-discovered. But this myth has become something of a legend in itself, evolving throughout prehistory and during the cultural transition of colonisation to become a story that belongs to all New Zealanders regardless of ethnicity. The modern version was enacted before our eyes in Wellington earlier this week in the show Maui: One man against the gods. Some of my favourite line illustrations, published in An illustrated encyclopedia of Maori life by A.W. Reed, are 100 years old this year. It thus seems fitting that they should be brought to life in a stage production. In one of his many escapades the demigod Maui and his brothers determine to trap the sun-god Ra—according to some accounts, with the purpose of slowing his rapid pace across the sky. As I watched the show it was as if these old drawings had become animated, leaping out of the page in a spectacle of light, aerial movement, and sound. Maui takes on the sun-god Ra. Image credits: Left: Dittmer, Wilhelm, 1866-1909: Maui's fight with the sun [from Te Tohunga. The ancient legends and traditions of the Maoris, London, Routledge, 1907]. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be ...