PRESENT e-Learning Systems News

The Hunger Games - A Phenomenon Unfolding and Why It's better to Read the Book than to See the Movie

2011-10-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of a 3 book series called the Hunger Games. Written for the Harry Potter sect, it's attracted a huge adult audience. A movie is being made now, releasing on March 23, of the first book, with a great cast. The book was recommended to me by my daughter Ali. She and her boyfriend ripped through the trilogy and loved it. The suspenseful, adventurous, defiant, sensual and violent teen tale resonates with a huge audience.

It's a phenomenon unfolding.

The teaser has been viewed over 500,000 times.

View Teaser

The trailer for the movie has gotten almost 3,000,000 views on YouTube

View Trailer

An entity known on YouTube as ElektrakutProduction even took their shot at which stars should be cast in the major roles in the movie, their piece, My Hunger Games Cast . Some fans filmed their own version of a trailer for the movie, a bit defiantly titled The Hunger Games Official Trailer and it's gotten nearly 500,000 views.

There are 3 million copies in print of the 1st book alone.

What's all the excitement about ?

Hunger Games is a great adventure tale told from the point of view of the young teenage heroine, Catniss Everdeen (think Ellen Page) in the distant future. Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant in this teen manhunt : kill or be killed until only one victor remains. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place. The story has been described as a cross between Lord of the Flies, Twilight, Robin Hood and The Most Dangerous Game. The people of the 12 districts are constantly wanting for food, and the descriptions of the hardships that they live with are presented in stark contrast to the wastefulness and luxury of the lives of the royalty living in the Capital.

Why Reading the Book is Better than Seeing the Movie - Generally

When you read the book, you control the pace at which the story unfolds. Good authors create narrative that makes you want to know more. They create curiosity, an itch that you want to scratch. When you're reading the story, you control when you pause and when you stop the story from unfolding. You control the cliff hangers and more significantly, how much you read at a sitting. When I'm reading a good book, and want to stop, I look for a point where something great or dramatic has happened, stop to consider it for a minute, and then close the book for the night. You can do this when reading a book, but not when viewing a movie. You can read a book at a frantic pace, getting the story fast and furious, or slowly, considering each turn of events. When watching a movie, you sit back and accept the storytelling pace created by the Screenwriter and Director. A book also has a very personal aspect, as each of us imagines a different look to the characters and the scenes they take part in. I often read the book first, so as not to miss that very pleasant and satisfying experience of imaging the world that frames the story and the characters that live it.

The Move is Coming on March 23

The Hunger Games movie will be huge as well, with stars Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Donald Southerland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz and upcoming stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the lead roles.

All in all, another great and quite original narrative has been created in the Hunger Games. I'm liking it so much, I wanted to share it with you...

May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor !

Atlas 1988 by Alan Sherman, DPM

2009-09-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Atlas 1988 by Alan Sherman, DPM

I built this sculpture in the early days
of my practice years - when I had some free time.
I also did some wood sculture and then a series
of 20+ pieces of laminated plate glass scultures
that are distributed throughout my home now.

We're Medical Doctors

2009-08-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

We're Medical Doctors

I have a story to tell you that represents a culmination for me, as a podiatrist. I use a social networking website called StumbleUpon.com as entertainment. It's a site that brings you to the highest rated web pages in categories that you choose, representing your interests. It's like walking through your favorite bookstore section and a guide is there to recommend the best books...only here, the guide gives you advice based on the votes of millions of people. “Crowdsourcing” is the term used. It's remarkable that they're mostly right..and you find some interesting stuff using “StumbleUpon.”

Last night, I stumbled to a website called Wiki.Answers.com, a search engine like Google, which allows you to ask questions in full sentences. The question being asked on that page was one I happened to be interested in (no surprise there). It was:

"What are the different kinds of medical doctors?"

Hmm...of course I had to check. And among the gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, anesthesiologists, and ophthalmologists...were podiatrists.

We certainly deserve this...we are certainly medical doctors. Stay on the lookout for other similar MD sightings.

Alan Sherman, DPM, CCMEP
CEO, PRESENT e-Learning Systems,

2009-08-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Florida doctor ousted after denouncing doughnuts

http://current.com/items/90684197_fla-doctor-ousted-after-denouncing-doughnuts.htm

You try to set an example, you try change some unhealthy behaviors in the health department that you run...and you do it with humor. Of course, you get fired...

2009-06-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Delivering the Clinical Conference Experience Online:
A Model for Tomorrow's Medical Education

BOCA RATON, Fla. June 24, 2009 - Alan Sherman, DPM and Michael Shore, DPM, founding members of one the fastest growing medical education companies, PRESENT e-Learning Systems, delivered a model of what medical education could look like in the near future.

Their presentation to a packed room full of pharmaceutical and medical device executives focused on adding social networking features to online medical education and was presented at the recent Healthcare Communications and Management Association's (HCMA) annual meeting held in Jersey City, N.J.
Sherman reviewed the explosion of social networking use around the world and presented a model for recreating the live clinical conference education experience with currently available Internet social networking tools. Drs. Sherman and Shore were invited by Diane Kusko, Marketing Director, WW Cardiovascular/Metabolic/Endocrine Disease for Pfizer Inc. Krusko also serves as the HCMA's Academic Co-Chair.

The HCMA (http://www.TheHCMA.org) is THE comprehensive resource for healthcare marketing, communications and education professionals. As a national, nonprofit organization, the HCMA is dedicated to advancing, enhancing and optimizing the careers of its members.

PRESENT e-Learning Systems (http://www.presentelearning.com) is one of the fastest growing a medical education and communications companies that specializes in online streaming media, CE/CME medical education and social networking for medical professionals. PRESENT e-Learning Systems pioneered online medical education and the integration of social networking for healthcare professionals.

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2009-04-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

VIdeo projection Monumentale 2009
Uploaded by uruk

2009-04-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Green Cay Park is a finely developed wetlands project in Delray Beach, Florida. On any ole' day, you can see Florida Aligators and 5-10 types of water birds. On some days, there are hundreds. Beautifully built boardwalks elevated above ground level provide a great view and a nice place to do an open air exercise nature walk.

From Green Cay Park Visit 041809

Green Cay - 12800 Hagen Ranch Road • Boynton Beach • (561) 966-7000 • Located in suburban Delray Beach on the east side of Hagen Ranch Road between Woolbright Road and Atlantic Avenue. 100+ acres of farm land have been transformed by Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department into a wetlands ecosystem. A railed boardwalk with frequent rest stops, some of them shaded, traverses this wildlife habitat. There is also a 9,000-square-foot nature center that includes a turtle pond, frog habitats, an alligator hole and murals depicting what the land, previously the Green Cay Farm, looked like decades ago. Admission is free.

View Larger Map

From Green Cay Park Visit 041809

2009-02-24T20:44:00.001-08:00

Time to Call the Doctor in Your Pocket?

Thursday, Februay 19, 2009 - A new initiative was launched at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona this week that aims to take advantage of the ubiquity of mobile phones to help foster better healthcare around the world.

Several weeks ago we heard about how cell phones can be used to test for diseases when labs and clinics aren't available. The Rockefeller Foundation, the UN Foundation and The Vodafone Foundation announced the Mobile Health (mHealth) Alliance this week in Barcelona, a new initiative that hopes to put cell phones to better use and expand the availability of care.

Quoting Terry Kramer, strategy director at British operator Vodafone, the AFP reports, "When you consider that there are 2.2 billion mobile phones in the developing world, 305 million computers but only 11 million hospital beds you can instantly see how mobiles can create effective solutions to address health care challenges."

Forrester analyst Elizabeth Boehm said, "One of the main challenges, in mobile health, is that people who are most in need of health care are usually more aged, so they don't use the mobile or they're not comfortable with it." One of the goals of the mHealth Alliance is to change that.

Mobile phones are capable of monitoring blood glucose, administering tests, reminding patients when to take their medicines, and used as alternative means to contact healthcare professionals to provide care over-the-phone when they aren't available in person.

The mHealth Alliance is charged with increasing the awareness of how these tools can be put to better use.

2009-02-24T16:14:00.000-08:00

Physicians Increasingly Support a Single-Payer National Health Insurance System

Laurie Barclay, MD

February 13, 2009 — US physicians increasingly support a single-payer national health insurance system, according to the results of a survey reported online January 29 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

“Many politicians may mistakenly believe that single-payer national health insurance lacks support among key stakeholders such as doctors,” lead author Danny McCormick, from Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), said in a news release. “Our finding that support for single-payer national health insurance now approaches that of tax-based incremental reforms suggests that a Medicare-for-all-type plan may be more politically viable than conventional wisdom suggests.”

The goal of this US nationally representative mail survey was to evaluate physician opinion regarding financing options for expanding coverage for and access to healthcare.

Between March 2007 and October 2007, US physicians involved in direct patient care were asked to rate their support for reform options such as financial incentives to encourage people to buy health insurance and single-payer national health insurance, as well as to rate their views of several aspects of access to healthcare.

Of 3300 physicians sent the survey, 1675 (50.8%) responded; 49% prefer either tax incentives or penalties to promote the purchase of health insurance; 42% prefer a government-run, taxpayer-financed single-payer national health insurance program, which increased from 26% in a study 5 years previously; and only 9% prefer the current, employer-based financing system.

Regarding access to healthcare, 89% of physicians surveyed believe that all Americans should receive needed medical care regardless of ability to pay; 33% believe that the uninsured currently have access to needed care; and 19.3% believe that even the insured lack access to needed care. Opinions regarding access were independently associated with support for single-payer national health insurance.

"Surveys show that a majority of Americans support a single-payer system. It's not surprising that increasing numbers of doctors do,” said coauthor David Bor, MD, also from Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance. “Single payer is the only proposal that can cover all Americans, for all needed care, without driving up healthcare costs. National health insurance would eliminate the massive administrative costs and hassles imposed by our current multiplicity of private insurers.”

Limitations of this study include modest response rate; the possibility that physicians strongly interested in health policy issues may have been more likely to respond; lack of generalizability to all physicians’ views; and possible misinterpretation of question meaning or bias related to question wording and response option content.

“Although a plurality of physicians favored incremental health care reform proposals based on the use of tax credits and penalties, a substantial proportion of physicians preferred an entirely different health care financing system — a government-run, taxpayer-financed single-payer [national health insurance] program,” the study authors write. “Physicians play a central role in the health care system and these views could be influential in reforming the financing of the American health care system.”

The Department of Medicine at the Cambridge Hospital funded this study. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

J Gen Intern Med. Published online January 29, 2009.

Medical Meetings' Attendance Up in 2008

2009-02-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

Medical Meetings' Attendance Up in 2008

Feb 18, 2009 2:38 PM

Despite the recession, professional attendance at healthcare meetings grew 1 percent in 2008 over the previous year, according to the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association’s 2009 State of the Industry Report and Market Trend Watch.

The report, which analyzes data from over 24,000 healthcare meetings in the United States, also found that the number of healthcare exhibits increased 2 percent in 2008 over 2007. Net square footage, however, decreased 2 percent last year. Some planners have said that exhibitors aren’t pulling booths, but they are reducing their size in this economic downturn.

On attendance, there were some interesting trends related to national and state meetings. Professional attendance at national healthcare meetings rose 5 percent in 2008. In contrast, state meetings reported a 4 percent decline in professional attendance last year.

“The convention marketing mix remains vitally important to overall strategic marketing objectives, even through the changes of the past year,” said Eric Allen, executive vice president at HCEA, in a press release.

Healthcare meetings represent about 24 percent of all meetings in the United States, making it the largest single segment. For more information on the report findings, visit www.HCEA.org.

http://meetingsnet.com/medicalmeetings/news/medical_meeting_attendance_0209/

PRESENT Diabetes Provides Powerful 1st Social Networking Site for Diabetes Care Professionals

2009-02-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

Watch more YouTube videos on AOL Video

Superbones Surgeon Helps Turn Clubfooted Boy into Champion Runner Reply to Topic

2009-01-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

Our very own Superbones surgeon, Dr. Zelen's, Clubfoot Correction has changed the lives of Memory Remine and his family forever. Read the incredible story of how Dr. Zelen's procedure allowed this courageous boy, who could barely walk, into a champion 5k runner.

You can download the pdf, entitle NEW MEMORY NEW MISSION by following this link: http://podiatry.com/pdf/NewMemoryNewMission.pdf

How Fast is the World Changing ?

2009-01-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

This video is ample demonstration of how fast the world is changing at this time of our lives. It has had over 5 million views on youtube.com and has been used in many classrooms around the world since it was released in Jan 2007.

Newer Version

This one has been viewed half a million times so far since it came out in Nov 2008.

History of this Presentation

Sources