Welcome to the Post-Grad Forum

Hello

Hello!

As one of the most-extended-staying students in the lab, I'm going to freely provide the future labmates with encouragements, such as: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=322

To my fellow labmates, please try not to leave me alone here to clean the floor :) http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=351

And luckily we've got intelligent security doors in the lab (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=330)

Yes we certainly need some comics as well

good luck to the postgrads--tell us a bit about the projects you are working on

 u want the comic version or the boring one, Martin? 
:)
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=82
or
"by taking a general inductive analysis approach with an analytic comparison strategy and evaluation research techniques, we hope to understand the perspectives of various stakeholders of New Zealand genetic services through semi-structured interviews, so as to answer the question of what should be aimed for in genetic information management."
 

So Yulong, you're looking at what sort of info should be in genetic databases, and what indexing, to make them useful for doctors and researchers?  Is that right?  The amount of data must be growing exponentially, which I guess makes it quite tricky.
Also enjoying the PhD comics by the way. 

 Hi, Deb, thanks for your interest in my study. I'd say besides the dilemma of "what sort of info should be in genetic databases", there're quite different opinions on "whether" we should have one!
Yes, everyone agrees that the data are _very_ useful for doctors, researchers, and many others (such as family members). And many more people might be interested in your "genetic profile", even including your employers. Of course with the rapid knowledge growth and sequencing technology development, the amount of data is going to be HUGE! So I guess my questions are: What can be the principles of managing these _very_ sensitive medical data? How could the genetic information management efforts help with the process of knowledge creation, validation and reuse?

 have you come to any opinion about whether we should have one?

 Very good question, Martin. I'd like to say I've got solid evidence to answer your question in a complete and definitive manner. But then I would have no fun left in my PhD ;)
But there are plenty of evidence that suggest:

1. The NZ system has multiple genetic services delivery models in practice - Patient-Doctor-Counsellor Model, Patient-Doctor-Lab Model, Patient-Counsellor-Lab Model, and Patient-Lab (Commercial) Model. This diversity presents challenges in the standardising of genetic services documentation, which could be a key to the systematic management of genetic information.
2. Some identified problems in the system include insufficient knowledge and little communication among stakeholders, the lack of communication of genetic testing results and their implications in a systematic manner. In particular, inadequate information is available to stakeholders, incomplete documentation is recorded, and there is little support for communication or result dissemination. 
3. Targeting these problems, Information Technology (IT) development might have the potential to meet genetic services stakeholders’ information and communication needs. Future IT implementation in the domain should be tailored to assist key tasks such as test referral, risk assessment, documentation recording, and result dissemination. Helpful health IT support might include clinical Decision Support Systems (DSS), e‑Referrals, shared Electronic Health Records (EHR), and Personal Health Records (PHR).

what are the rest of your postgrad colleagues up to?

hmm, an upcoming wedding, a new baby, just usual stuff :)

 well major life events would be of interest....but I am sure readers would also be interested in research you are  trying to fit in around baby making and weddings :-)

Hi guys,
I'm steven here and studying MSc in Health Informatics at the University of Otago.
Look forward to seeing many more PG students here.
 
Steven

Hello everyone.  I'm new to the hive.  I just attended the HINZ conference and really enjoyed it.
My PhD topic is on elective services performance.  I am exploring the utility of the national health administrative data collections and my research aim is to develop an academic framework to describe NZ goals and local measures and to compare them with what other health systems have accomplished.  I am studying part-time and am based in Wellington. 
 

Hello Corrine, it will be interesting to hear from you how elective services perform in different health system models, e.g. how does in the German insurance system model compare to the USA insurance model to the NHS models of the UK, NZ and Australia, to name a few?

Hi Everyone,
HINZ was a great experience and inspiration. It brought up once again that there are so many gaps in Health & Informatics that need to be carefully bridged. One thing to be happy about the gaps would be that there are enough carreer opportunities opening out there. Hopefully the postgrads are gearing to take an ambitious bite at some of them. My PhD on robotics, medication management and eldercare has been an enjoyable journey so far. I will be curious to see how it progresses and learn lots of things on the way.
Cheers
Priyesh

Hello everyone,
I enjoyed being at HINZ2009, having met a few people from health organizations and IT industries, which show a good sign of relationship between IT providers and health organizations.  If healthcare were to employ IT, it's a very high investment and I wonder how IT is being exploited in healthcare.  This issue has attracted me to investigate further. 
By the way, I am doing research in the use of knowledge management systems (KMS) in healthcare.  My research needs participants from members of DHBs and MSOs.  Hope I will get full cooperation from them.

Hi Norashikin and all the post grads. Welcome to the site! Let me know if you have any suggestions about how we can make this more useful for Post-grad students.
 
We have the facility to provide a private discussion group if the post-grads would like to have an area to talk about PG work that they don't want to be on a public area of the site.
 
Cheers,
 
Chris

Nice diversity of topics for postgrad study. How far are you with your studies and tell us some interesting stories about your experiences and what's getting you thinking.

Stop Hypo Drive Australia
Hypo-drive is a national educational awareness program aimed at drivers with diabetes alerting them to the dangers of driving while suffering from a hypoglycemic attach, hypo shock or a hyperglycemic episode.

Hi All
I'm new to Health Informatics but looking forward to understanding the topic better and building on my health science and psychology knowledge. I'm interested in most aspects of health in general, but have a particular interest in how different cultures view health and how cultural knowledge systems affect people's views on health care and health knowledge sytems.
Cheers,
Rochelle
 

Hello all,
My name is Bernadette Peni and have only recently completed my Undergraduate degree in BHSc. Hoping to gain much more insight into the world of health informatics :)
Bernie

Hi all,
My name is Newman Thomas and I am studying part time towards a Graduate Diploma in Health Informatics, hopefully get into Masters program. I am also working full time in IT at Datacom Auckland. I have an interest in the Quality and the Security of *any* data.
I been working in the IT field for the past 3 years but been about 7 years in the industry. A graduate from University of Otago  2006 I moved up to Wellington to pursue my career there. I then moved up to Auckland to extend that knowledge and of course enjoy the weather Auckland have that Wellington seem to lack.
I enjoy playing volleyball, indoor soccer and at times when I have too much for dinner I would attend gym the next day to break a sweat.
I am hoping this course can be a bridge between the IT field and Health sector and am looking forward to working together with my peers.
 

Hi all,
My name is Ala Farah. I am a postgraduate student at the University of Auckland and I am studying towards a diploma in Public Health and hopefully the Masters Degree. I just started the course in Health Informatics and I hope to increase my knowledge of the field and become more aware of the role of health informatics in the health sector in New Zealand and world wide.
Anyhow, hope you are all doing well and to those of you who are still postgraduate students, hope everything goes well.
Best wishes,
Ala Farah

Hi All,
I'm sure I have introduced myself elsewhere.. but here we go again... My name is Harish, working as a Data Analyst for the Waikato district health board.  I have been involved with some form of Health Informatics one way or the other in the past (unknowingly).  Here to formalise the whole process and get a better understanding of health Informatics and what it is all about.
Cheers
Harish

Hi everyone,
I'm a transplant from the US, doing my MPH at the University of Auckland.  Electronic health records are my big topic of interest.  My research centers around health information systems and policy.   I'm hoping my research and the HLTHINFO728 course will allow me to gain the information to become an expert in the area as well as contribute to the body of knowledge surrounding this issue.  

Hi All,
I am new to Health informatics doing PGDIP , i am looking forward to know learn more about health knowledge management and overall the role of IT in health care.
Thnaks
khalid

hi  i am vry new in this type of blogs and i really do not know if i am in the right place , well i am Anesthestist who work overseas at the moment but my home in Auckland and my family is there , i am very intersted in the health info course thats why i am in from july , and hope i will know where yo start , pls can some one tell me where to read
one more thing i can not write comment from my ipad can some one fix the softweare 
Thanks