Wow, what a busy day!
Today I listened in on two conference calls: one was a discussion of TPN software issues, and the other was a practitioner tutorial. I was responsible for taking meeting notes, just like an actual company secretary! :)
During the first call, a group of doctors, physician informatics, TPN providers, and IT technicians discussed specific problems with a new version of the TPN 2000 program and its accompanying network. It was a very tech-y experience, and it took some time to sort everything out and get everyone on the same page. But eventually, with everyone’s advice, commentary, and suggestions, the technical difficulties were significantly improved—yay!
Then, after a lunch break, Ms. Vaidya invited me to listen to a tutorial/Q&A-based call with nurse practitioners working with TPN 2000. Unlike the first call, this involved discussion about the biochemistry behind total parenteral nutrition and the write-up/administration process. I was glad that I could understand a bit of the conversation, including calcium-phosphorous and sodium-potassium mole ratios, milliequivalents (mEq) conversions, and positive-to-negative ion matching (throwback to AP Chemistry!). I also got a taste of the TPN 2000 software interface, which is very complex and accounts for many elements and amounts used to produce the TPNs. I’m so grateful that I was introduced to the science behind this research in order to further understand the benefits of TPN and its software.
After all that, I can definitely appreciate the multiple layered factors that go into running and maintaining this software business.
I had a great second week of interning and can’t wait for next week!
Until next time,
Mia Lu
Great posts and titles, Mia! As someone who has NEVER been on Twitter, I can only imagine participating in this alternate reality! Have you found key terms to tweet or other effective strategies to bring your posts to the top? (Once a tweet has moved down the list, is it possible for it to resurface?) Also, are key terms the best way for you attract your target demographic? (I bet that these are "DUH" questions, as well!)
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, I am incredibly excited that you understand the science behind TPN! These skill sets make you a very qualified note taker, and probably also made listening in on the conversations a lot more interesting!
While I am still trying to figure out what content is the BEST to post, I did some experimenting and found that global health initiatives/awareness, growing epidemics, and current medical/health discoveries are more likely to be noticed. Significant statistics, the present tense, and an active stance definitely help.
DeleteIt's usually better to go with a hashtag that is broader, so it will be seen by a larger audience. However, that also means that you're competing with many others, so it is more likely that your post will be pushed to the bottom of the clutter. So sometimes, tweeting something with a more specific hashtag - #neonatal, for example - was beneficial to target a desired audience and remain closer to the top.
If someone retweets your tweet, it can move up to the newer results in the live hashtag feed. However, because that depends on who actually reads your post (there are so many to read, and they look very similar after awhile), it's not the most efficient way to move it. I've been working with retweeting others' posts, and if I retweet and use the same hashtag, it will move that person's tweet up in the list, which will be "linked" to my own.
Hopefully, that helps answer some of your questions. :)
Very interesting stuff, how long were the conference calls?
ReplyDeleteThe IT troubleshooting call was about 1.5 hours, and the practitioner tutorial was about 2 hours. The time went by pretty fast though, because there was always someone asking questions or driving the conversation (there were around 10 people on each call).
DeleteSounds very professional! Was it hard for you to keep up with the conference call while taking accurate notes? What kind of techniques, if any, did you employ to stay on pace with everyone? Keep up the hard work, Mia!
ReplyDeleteGreat question, Alex!
DeleteMs. Vaidya had asked me to focus on troubleshooting problems, while she handled more management notes, so it was easier for me to narrow in on specific issues while listening in on the calls.
However, at first it was difficult to grasp everything that was going on, because the discussion was very IT/programming-related and computer-oriented (actually, you would probably understand a lot of it). But as more and more people joined the calls, frequent recaps were included and I was able to crosscheck my notes with the conversation. The conference calls themselves were very explanatory in nature, which helped me zone in on the more important aspects that the participants stressed. Sometimes, they would just elaborate on a certain topic of discussion, of which I took more general notes, as much of the information was repeated.
As far as techniques go, I definitely paid a lot of attention to the meeting recaps and specific questions aimed to the group as a whole. But otherwise, I just wrote down everything I could understand and what I deemed important to the outcome of the discussions.
You say that you got a taste of the software interface. Did you actually go through a trial run? Are you able to comment on it's user friendliness?
ReplyDeleteMs. Das, thanks for the comment!
DeleteThe practitioner tutorial was more so an introduction to the layout of the interface, which is very important in the actual process of writing TPNs. The interface is basically a very, very detailed Excel spreadsheet.
I was able to observe the software calculating ratios between various electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, acetate, and magnesium). More specifically, when the person types in the amount of such an electrolyte needed for the TPN, say calcium, the software/interface would indicate if the amount does not coincide with the other electrolytes, which need to be matched in positive-to-negative ion ratios. In other words, if the practitioner adds too much calcium (a positive ion), s/he would then have to increase the amount of phosphorus or acetate (negative ions) OR decrease the amount of sodium, potassium, or magnesium (positive ions) to maintain the correct ratios.
A newer aspect of the TPN 2000 interface is a mole ratio table, which can help the practitioners determine the correct amounts of nutrients to add. In fact, the nurse practitioners on the conference call said it was extremely useful when writing their TPNs.
I know I make it sound pretty technical and confusing, but the software itself looks quite easy to use, and fixes possible errors along the way, which I think makes everything later in the process more efficient. (But then again, we didn't really do a "trial run", per say, and my knowledge is from a computer screen and a phone call.)
I hope to be exposed to the TPN process a bit more as I progress with my research.