Today I called the two websites I mentioned in my last post (Vyew and Webex by Cisco). After reviewing each site I was rather confused to what exactly I needed to host a web forum. Neither site did a good job in explaining their services and when those services would be useful. And to be honest, there was little clarification given when I called as well.
I first called the phone number on the website for Vyew (800-594-4559)...I called and no one was home. You can not speak to a person. A voice says you've reached the number for Vyew, however you have to leave a number. I decided not to do this because the recording didn't say what department I have. I may be calling the wrong department...it felt like a waste of time. So I moved on...
I spoke to Shawn at Webex (888-469-3239), he was friendly but I knew just as much before I spoke to him then I did after. I explained to him that I needed a web meeting room to conduct a forum for a course project. He asked how many people and I estimated at 10 to 15 (I'll explain more below). He said there was a free trial period (which I had seen on the website) otherwise the price would be $49.99/mo (which is also on the website). I said I had noticed a lot of other options, does it look like I would need anything else besides the email, he said he didn't think so. I then asked exactly how does this work (this part was not on the website)...he explained an email would be sent with the web rooms link to the participants explaining the date and time of the forum. I asked if it was possible to have the service for one month and he said I could do that.
After calling I really felt like I didn't know enough to decide where to turn or more specifically which sites I should turn to seeking a web conference or forum room. However I found a site on line that gives an independent opinion of various sites that offer web conference rooms (http://www.webconferencing-test.com/en/webconference_home.html). After reviewing this site I plan on taking the weekend to look at the top five sites and call them on Monday. My goal is to have a decision by the end of next week.
This web forum idea came out of the thought to draw the most honest and open opinion of where medicine professionals believe our current relationship is, how to best improve the relationship, and what the impact has on controlling zoonotic disease. A web conference room would be pooling medicinal professionals both by their location and later a conference with those speaking most on the subject with professionals from other areas. I realize this is a big endeavor and I have only a few months to complete it. So I would like to have the first forum in the beginning of March and the last by the end of March or very beginning of April.
Essentially this entry is boiled down to this....I've done some research and decided I need to do more (forget making a long story short, huh). Hopefully when you read my entries from next week you'll see I've made a decision.
~Meresa
Friday, January 29, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week Two...More ideas to come...
This week I've started laying the foundation for my research project. I'm quite excited specifically about one of the ideas I have...I want to have a forum on the web and in attendance will be veterinarians, physicians and hopefully health department staff discussing their roles in zoonotic disease prevention; my role will be mediator. I believe this will the center of my data collecting and many avenues will branch off of it. I've look at a few sites so far that may be able to accommodate my projects web forum needs:
- Vyew Instant Workplaces (http://vyew.com/site/): Vyew caught my attention mainly because of the awesome review they received from PC world. They not only offer a means to have the forum, but the information can be kept through their server to be later reviewed. Many formats can be used for conducting the forum such as web cam and voice over IP, however the format I'm interested in is text messaging. I like the idea of being able to keep a formal record of who attended and of what was said. I have to admit their pricing is a little confusing and I'm not exactly sure what I would need and how much it will cost. To get a basic room is free however there's a limit in participants and advertising by the website will be shown during the meeting. I'll be calling their customer service this upcoming week (week of January 25th) to see what their staff recommend.
- Cisco Webex (http://www.webex.com/lpintl/us/sem/online_meetings.htm?CMP=KNC-sem&TrackID=1016574&hbxref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fsourceid%3Dnavclient%26ie%3DUTF-8%26rlz%3D1T4ACGW_en___US347%26q%3DForum%2Bor%2Bmeeting%2Brooms%2Bonline&semid=G14.017.001.online%20meeting&goid=WebexUS_1016574): Cisco is a rather well known company in business services, so that makes me look at what they have to offer very seriously. I don't know a lot about what they are offering, because they don't have as good website as Vyew in explaining their services. Other than the 14 day free trial period they advertise on their website, I'll have to call their customer services representatives to acquire more information.
The forum is a good way to get realtime information from professionals. A survey is a great means, however I do not believe it will get the most honest responses. To have a "room" of professionals sharing the roles, where they believe improvement needs to be made, and a way to document all (so their isn't any confusion of who said what...its formal documentation), will give the clearest, direct, and open information.
This upcoming week I plan on narrowing down the cities to target in my research. The states I'm using were decided on quite awhile ago and include: Texas, California, New York, and Florida. Each of these states offer zoonotic diseases that are unique or more prevalent to them because of their climate, unique ecological challenges, or simply due to the melting pot of communities inside their borders. In addition these four states pretty much make up a good representation of the issues in the rest of the country. The only exception is Hawaii. However there isn't any other state in the United States that has a climate like Hawaii making a focus of that state a poor choice.
The focus in my capstone class this upcoming week is a literature review. This last week the focus was writing the outline for the literature review. To be honest, I do not believe I completed the assignment well and I stumbled across a problem I've had for as long as I can remember. If I think its an extra step (such as creating the outline for upcoming assignment) I have a difficult time doing it. If I can sit down and simply write the paper for example, and the outline isn't necessary I have a difficult time making the outline or what I think of as simplifying the work. This may sound strange but I've noticed this issue with myself in the past. However I was able to review the list I compiled last term for my sources, and they still seem to stand up well; I plan on uploading a copy of the proposal I did for last term so you can see the sources I've chosen.
I'm always keeping my eyes open for more material in the news regarding zoonotic disease and prevention, looking for additional potential sources. In my local newspaper (Ludington Daily News) there was an article from a syndicated columnist (Dr. Gott) titled "Dogs may be culprit in the case of owner's rash (Dr Gott, January 2010)." The woman (a pet owner) that wrote Dr. Gott simply tells of a seeping rash she gets every so often on her arms and ankles that has left her dermatologist stumped as to its cause. Dr. Gott points out about her dogs and the location of the rash that point to the possible of the cause agent being related to her pets. While reading this article it reiterated the lack of information asked by professionals regarding if someone has pets or not and the role their pet may have in transmitting disease or other health conditions to their pet owners. I'm all the more excited about the potential my paper holds.
~Meresa
Dr. Gott (January 23, 2010) "Dogs may be culprit in the case of owner's rash." Ludington Daily News. Shoreline Media Inc.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Introductions
I've started this blog for the main purpose of tracking my progress in completing my capstone project. Currently a full time student at St. Petersburg College, I'm pursing a bachelors in applied science, major in veterinary technology. To complete the program I must complete a capstone project of my choosing. Last term after making a list of various possibilities from evaluating current methods of reducing aggression in pets making their yearly visit to the veterinarian to developing a deworming and vaccination program for cattle in Niger (West Africa), I decided on a project that not only has the potential to benefit the veterinary profession here and now, but will also help to create a solid foundation for my career choice...a veterinarian working internationally in sustainable agriculture.
Before being in the Peace Corp my goal was to become a Veterinarian (never changed) and specialize in wildlife and exotics. My more than ten years as a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator (Michigan) and having worked with wildlife and exotics in the veterinary setting instilled a passion to contribute to the preservation of native species. The passion is still there however its not as strong as what was provoked during my brief stay in Niger.
Nothing makes something more real such as poverty, until you see it personally. My experience in Niger was sobering. I live in a wonderful country, the United States of America, where even when times are at their worse, I can turn to my government or local organizations. The people in Niger, a country that was labeled as the poorest country in the world by the United Nations in 2007, do not have anyone to turn to but the visiting non-governmental organizations (NGO's). I want to clarify this is not because their government doesn't care about them, the government has little resources to generate a decent means of supporting their people when more than 70% of the country is desert. Its great when NGO's enter into a country and offer aid in some fashion (example. clothing, food, etc.). However Niger is an example of how providing sustainable assistance (example. seeds for crops, livestock, wells, etc) is a measure that would last well beyond the exodus of an NGO. In our country we would also refer to the difference as being a hand out or a hand up.
My capstone project titled "Friend or foe? The working relationship between veterinary medicine and human medicine" is the start to working internationally in sustainable agriculture. You may be reading this and say "How is studying the working relationship between the two professions in the United States going to help you in working internationally?" The one thing I definitely walked away with...poverty will not be ended by one person, one group of people, one culture, and definitely not through the valiant efforts of one profession. We are going to all have to work together. However the leaders will be those in the medical profession (veterinarians and physicians) demonstrating and enabling methods for keeping livestock at their healthiest and crops at their fullest, leading to the annihilation of poverty.
What is the current working relationship between the veterinary and human medicine professions? How effective is the relationship in controlling zoonotic disease? And what measures are recommended (as a result of the collected data) between the two professions to enable both in zoonotic disease prevention?
As you follow my entries you'll see my capstone project materializing. Literature reviews, determining the methodology, submitting a project proposal, data collecting (examining the methods of data collecting), publishing the results, and determining potential zoonotic disease prevention methods are what you will be reading for the next 12 weeks. I hope you'll enjoy the adventure as much as I will!
Meresa Salisbury, LVT
Before being in the Peace Corp my goal was to become a Veterinarian (never changed) and specialize in wildlife and exotics. My more than ten years as a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator (Michigan) and having worked with wildlife and exotics in the veterinary setting instilled a passion to contribute to the preservation of native species. The passion is still there however its not as strong as what was provoked during my brief stay in Niger.
Nothing makes something more real such as poverty, until you see it personally. My experience in Niger was sobering. I live in a wonderful country, the United States of America, where even when times are at their worse, I can turn to my government or local organizations. The people in Niger, a country that was labeled as the poorest country in the world by the United Nations in 2007, do not have anyone to turn to but the visiting non-governmental organizations (NGO's). I want to clarify this is not because their government doesn't care about them, the government has little resources to generate a decent means of supporting their people when more than 70% of the country is desert. Its great when NGO's enter into a country and offer aid in some fashion (example. clothing, food, etc.). However Niger is an example of how providing sustainable assistance (example. seeds for crops, livestock, wells, etc) is a measure that would last well beyond the exodus of an NGO. In our country we would also refer to the difference as being a hand out or a hand up.
My capstone project titled "Friend or foe? The working relationship between veterinary medicine and human medicine" is the start to working internationally in sustainable agriculture. You may be reading this and say "How is studying the working relationship between the two professions in the United States going to help you in working internationally?" The one thing I definitely walked away with...poverty will not be ended by one person, one group of people, one culture, and definitely not through the valiant efforts of one profession. We are going to all have to work together. However the leaders will be those in the medical profession (veterinarians and physicians) demonstrating and enabling methods for keeping livestock at their healthiest and crops at their fullest, leading to the annihilation of poverty.
What is the current working relationship between the veterinary and human medicine professions? How effective is the relationship in controlling zoonotic disease? And what measures are recommended (as a result of the collected data) between the two professions to enable both in zoonotic disease prevention?
As you follow my entries you'll see my capstone project materializing. Literature reviews, determining the methodology, submitting a project proposal, data collecting (examining the methods of data collecting), publishing the results, and determining potential zoonotic disease prevention methods are what you will be reading for the next 12 weeks. I hope you'll enjoy the adventure as much as I will!
Meresa Salisbury, LVT
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)