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“Keeping up with NLM’s PubMed” has Successful Turnout in Laredo

Analiza Perez-Gomez and Cathy Craig from the Laredo Community College Library are receiving training on PubMed from Cheryl Rowan from NN/LM SCR

Analiza Perez-Gomez and Cathy Craig from the Laredo Community College Library are receiving training on PubMed from Cheryl Rowan from NN/LM SCR

On January 20, 2011, Cheryl Rowan, Public Health Outreach Coordinator, and Michelle Malizia, Associate Director, from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine South Central Region (NN/LM SCR) office in Houston traveled to the Laredo Regional Campus Library to teach “Keeping up with NLM’s PubMed.”  Librarians and health professionals from the Laredo community were invited to this four-hour, hands-on training class in order to expand their knowledge and use of PubMed.  PubMed is a free resource containing more than 20 million citations from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Library staff members from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio Laredo Regional Campus, Laredo Community College, and Texas A&M International University participated in this class.  Staff members from the South Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program attended the training as well.

In addition to the PubMed class, Ms. Rowan also taught a class entitled “Medline Plus and More.” MedlinePlus, available in a variety of languages including English and Spanish, is an internet resource that provides access to reliable consumer health information on the Internet. 

Participants were extremely pleased with the classes and left either with new knowledge of an excellent resource to share with students and health professionals or a better understanding of a useful research tool. 

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“Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism”

The fifth annual report, “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism,” from the Trust for America’s Health was released in December 2007. “Ready or Not?” includes state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities.

According to the report, Texas scored 8 out of the possible 10 points. Information on emergency preparedness in Texas (details in both English and Spanish) is available from the Texas Department of State Health Services at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/default.shtm

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“SaludToday” – New Latino Health Website and Blog

The Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio has developed  a new website and blog devoted to Latino health, SaludToday.

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“Wellness Information Zone” – Disponible en Español

Sponsored by The Humana Foundation, the Wellness Information Zone project has launched its Spanish-version website.

(Thanks to Siobhan Champ-Blackwell’s Bringing Health Information to the Community blog.)

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2008 KIDS COUNT Data Available

From the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book is now available. Using the Data Book Online, you can generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles; or, download the entire data set. The KIDS COUNT Data Center includes the most recent statistical data available on Education, Employment and Income, Poverty, Health, Basic Demographics, and Youth Risk Factors for the U.S., all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and has data for the 50 largest U.S. cities.

The KIDS COUNT profile of Texas also includes statistics for San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, and Houston. The complete 2008 KIDS COUNT is also available for purchase or download in PDF format.

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2012 Texas Emergency Management Conference

Photograph of a San Antonio Fire Department fire truckThe University of Texas Health Science Center Briscoe Library participated in the 2012 Texas Emergency Management Conference in downtown San Antonio on April 2nd through the 4th. Sponsored by the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the conference brings together representatives of law enforcement, border and port security, transportation and cyber security, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, Texas Military Forces, voluntary organizations and private sector partners. Patrick Lemelle, Outreach Library Assistant, and Peg Seger, Head of Outreach Services, provided information and demonstrations on disaster information resources available from the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

One of the featured NLM programs demonstrated by the Briscoe Library representatives was the WISER program.  WISER  is an information system designed and maintained by the National Library of Medicine for first responders and all emergency personnel who need critical information at their fingertips.

“WISER is a system designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents. WISER provides a wide range of information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression advice.”

A free application is available for smart phones and other technical devices and can be acquired at the WISER website: http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/

The conference became all too real this year when up to a dozen tornadoes hit the Dallas-Fort Worth area and emergency management operations were mobilized on the convention floor.

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A Study on Coffee Drinking

A wonderful article has appeared on the Medical News Today website. Written by Catharine Paddock, PhD, it dives into some of the questions we all have had about the debate over the value, or hazards of coffee drinking. “There was a time when the only news about coffee and health was how it was bad for the heart, likely to give us ulcers and aggravate our nerves, but now it seems this popular beverage is receiving a more favorable kind of press.”

In the United States, we consume 1.3 metric tons per year, at a rate of 4.2 kg per person. The latest figures for 2012 suggest 65% of American adults drink coffee, placing the beverage “neck and neck with soft drinks”, says the National Coffee Association.

However, the researchers uncovering the good news are all saying the same thing: while there appear to be some health perks from drinking coffee, there are also a few cautions, and the evidence is not solid enough to actively encourage people to go out and drink coffee.

This article takes a good look at the shift in the research view on coffee consumption, touching on some of the key studies, and finishes off with some facts and figures about coffee and caffeine.

Copyright: Medical News Today

Drinking Coffee: More Good Than Harm?

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AAMC’s MedEdPORTAL includes Dental Education materials

In 2005, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched its “MedEdPORTAL” as a free publishing venue and dissemination portal to support educators and learners as they create and use on-line teaching materials, assessment tools, and faculty development resources around the world.  In March, 2008, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) joined the AAMC to expand the Portal to include dental education resources within its repository of teaching tools.  This collaboration represents the first time that academic medicine and academic dentistry have come together to share teaching resources across universities and throughout the world.

Information about MedEdPORTAL and a link to free online training workshops is available at http://services.aamc.org/jsp/mededportal/.

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Abriendo las Cajas: Experiences with Domestic Violence

Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Abriendo las Cajas (Opening Boxes) provides an opportunity for recent immigrants in the Oakland/Bay Area to share their experiences with domestic violence. From the project’s summary:

“The digital storytelling campaign… take(s) family members through a progression of self-expression, peer sharing, and family healing to community empowerment and change. Participants… produce tangible products (digital stories) that will be put to immediate use by a statewide network of health educators as well as be distributed via local radio and the Web.”

Thanks to Siobhan Champ-Blackwell’s Bringing Health Information to the Community.

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Acceso Hispano

Thanks to NN/LM – SCR’s Blogadillo for sharing the news about Acceso Hispano:

“Acceso Hispano’s fundamental goal is to improve the quality of life of the Hispanic population living in the United States. There are close to 47 million Latinos currently living in the U.S., and by 2050 this number is expected to reach 140 million, according to recent projections by the Pew Hispanic Center. By 2050 Hispanics will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, compared with 14% in 2005. A little over half of this new Hispanic population will be recent immigrants, who need access to information and support services to effectively integrate into the broader society. We seek to empower members of the Hispanic community to improve their lives by linking them to the support services or information they may need.”

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