If you like to read…

• Pure History: you will like the way this work of fiction weaves real historical fact into the story.
• Vampire Lore: you will like this book because vampires permeate this story. You  may need to suspend a bit of belief because some of the good guys are vampires. A vampire purist may not like this yarn because after the first century, vampires can walk in the sun.
• Well written and imaginative fiction of any kind: then you will like this book because it’s a wonderful yarn and will make you say (with a wink and a nod) “Ah, that explains it!”

Have you read this book? If yes, what did you think? If you like history (any kind or era), vampire lore, or alternate history, what books would you recommend? Please feel free to share here. I’d love to hear YOUR recommendations!

Below is the presentation I gave. Please feel free to review it and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

My husband and I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!!! We went to a Sacramento RiverCats Baseball game (which we both love to do!) and Mark had them put a message on the board for me (see the photo). RHMILY means “Remember How Much I Love You!” He got a great big “Awwww” and a kiss from me as I scrambled to pull out my camera. It was a wonderful day!

I started a new class last night. It’s called “Organizational Diagnosis and Intervention.” Do you have any idea what this is about? I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure it’s important. I just haven’t taken the time to read the syllibus or do the reading yet. That starts tonight! I’m sure this has to do with dealing with troubled organizations. I can think of a few organizations I’ve worked for where a class like this would have been helpful.

I think I’ve reached an alternatively weary/exciting part of my doctoral program. There are some days (hours/minutes/seconds) when I am tremendously excited about the fact that I only have four content classes and my dissertation project left to do and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There are other days (hours/minutes/seconds) where I’m extremely tired and keep wondering “What was I thinking when I signed up for this journey?” I look at the “light at the end of the tunnel” and am sure it’s an oncoming train.

I am hoping that the excitement will go back to being the predominant feeling so I can push through to the end of this process and graduate. In the meantime I keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing one task or assignment at a time. My dissertation mentor, Dr. Holley, has assured me that my dissertation project is now doable and my timeline is reasonable. Now I just need to pitch it to the folks that I want to study…

Anyway, life proceeds apace. I’m back at work and am still training a new coworker who is coming along nicely. He starts teaching training classes tomorrow (under my watchful eye). Hopefully by July he’ll be able to take half of the training chores off of my plate and let me concentrate on other tasks.

My husband and dogs are great! I think Shasta wishes I’d walk her more often. Come to think of it, I wish I could walk her more often. Now that the weather is starting to improve I hope to fulfill her wish. I think I’ll start by taking both Roobee and Shasta to a nearby dog park.

Mark is as loving and supportive as ever! I really couldn’t do any of this without him. He keeps me going and helps to recharge my batteries on a daily basis.

This week has been full of very long days and late nights. During the first class we had to work on presentations with our teams every night and then get up and present on a topic we know nothing about in scholarly terms. Thanks to the Internet there is TONS of information out there on the topics that we were given. Making everything you’re saying about the topics sound scholarly is the challenging part!

Our topics for the first class were:

• Financial Collapse
• Climate Change
• Stem Cell Research
• Nuclear Weapons
• World Peace
• Leadership Theory

I’m sure I’ve missed some. I’ll add to the list as they come back to me.

One  of the things that I found very interesting about the topics above was that every presentation on each topic was so completely different. Nobody repeated references or perspectives. We all came at each topic from a different angle. Even though the topics were heavy, it really was a learning experience on scholarly presentation and scholarly thinking!

My instructor and other University of Phoenix faculty keep telling us that the point of this residency is to a) teach us to think in a scholarly manner and b) get us out of our comfort zone and still be able to think in a scholarly manner. I think they are succeeding admirably! I’m definitely not comfortable right now!!! I’m feeling like they’re about to lose my ability to think in a scholarly manner however because my brain is quickly turning to mush. Ah well… on to a new day to see what it will hold.

Scholarly thinking requires inquiry in an in-depth manner without bias and preconceptions. One must open their mind to the possibilities and not make assumptions based on surface information. Scholars look for:

• The underlying theory of what they are reading
• A model and a plan for moving forward including a possible solution
• A way to evaluate the model or plan and make changes where necessary

My group had a model and the beginnings of a plan to move forward, but was not in-depth enough for what our instructor was looking for. However, when she was giving us our feedback, our instructor pointed out that she had not given us the assignment rubrics on purpose in order to evaluate where our thinking was and expected us to perform as we had. Now she expects us to improve. Now we get to find out what’s next…

Your thoughts on this? Please share…

It has been another interesting and enlightening week for me. My dissertation project seems to constantly occupy a significant portion of my brain (awake or asleep) even while I am doing unrelated activities. I seem to be finding examples of how Web 2.0 (another name for social networking) is impacting my work and life in general. I’m also finding areas where I wish it would have a bigger impact.

For example, since I had my medical incident in December of last year, I find that I have information I want to communicate to 4 different physicians. Three of those physicians are on an electronic health record so, in theory, if I can tell one, two of the others should know about it as well if I find a way to ask them to look. I may have just come across a way to do that using a new patient messaging system. I can leave a message for specific physicians (I think). However, they cannot answer in kind. I would need to go see them or request a return phone call. I know there are patient privacy issues (HIPAA) involved, but having to print out things and physically deliver this information in order to inform them when an email would suffice seems highly inefficient and unproductive. Especially when my employer (a large healthcare network) is also a) three of my physicians’ employer and b) my insurance provider. Something that should take five minutes for me to send and another five minutes for each physician to read instead takes four man-hours to communicate because I have to visit each of the three physicians for a consultation. The fourth physician is an independent physician and pretty much out of the loop anyway. He’s a whole different kettle of fish and about to lose my business for other reasons…

What are your thoughts about using social networking technologies – or even just email – in a medical setting as communication between patients and physicians? Please share!

Image Credit: This T-Shirt is a product offered on Zazzle. I plan to purchase one for myself (because I think it’s cute), but am not (at this point) endorsing this product or Zazzle in any way.

This week I learned an important lesson about thinking too big and making things too complicated. I was concerned about doing a valid study and really made the process more complicated than it needed to be. Today I watched a TED Talk given by Rachel Pike (2009), a graduate student in environmental science. During her talk she mentioned that her study was on one type of molecule that is found in the atmosphere and is affected by climate change. Between listening to this talk and talking on the phone with Dr. Holley, I was able to really simplify things and bring my study (and my head) down to size.

A doctoral dissertation is not the solution to some grand problem. It is a study of a problem that will contribute to the body of knowledge around that problem. It’s taking one little piece of the problem and examining it closely and reporting on it. The dissertation project becomes much less overwhelming and tiresome when the student keeps that in mind.

References: Pike, R. (2009). Rachel Pike: The science behind a climate headline. New York, NY: TED Conferences, LLC. Retrieved on February 15, 2010 from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/rachel_pike_the_science_behind_a_climate_headline.html.

Image Credit: Image was retrieved on February 15, 2010 from Ph.D. Comics.

This is a powerful speech about the need for reform in education and the embrace of higher education by the masses.

More information about Liz Coleman can be found on the TED Site.