Technical Program

Plenary Sessions

Plenary I – The President Has Been Shot and They Are Bringing Him to the Emergency Room – Ron Jones, MD 

Plenary II – Computer aided simulation, visualization, and animation: Current technology and application in Biocommunications – Jeff Wheeler

Plenary III – Pioneer Lecture: Seeing Our Way Clear: The Challenge of Creating and Communicating in Chaotic Times – Jan Phillips

 

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent A – Management Session (Sunday, 6/24 1:30pm – 5:00pm)

– Charles Farmer

– Panel Discussion

– What’s Your Leading Color?

Concurrent B – Alternatives in Biomedical Photography 

(Sunday, 6/24 at 1:30 – 5:00pm)

– Perceptions and Misconceptions of Photographic Evidence

– Indexed Visuals – Not Your "Traditional" Stockhouse

– How education and certification can keep us in our medical and clinical photography job: A view on the situation from Denmark

– Perinatal Bereavement Photography

– The New Technology – Its Impact on Photographic Services at an Agricultural Research Station 

Concurrent C – Streaming Opportunity  (Monday,  6/25 at 1:00 – 5:00)

– Expanding the Web’s Boundaries: The Streaming Opportunity 

– Internet Streaming Essentials: Shooting and Designing Video for the Web 

– Tin Cans, String and Cardboard Boxes: Video Architectures and Codecs

– Video Streaming – An Added Value Benefit to an In-house Web Team

– Integrating On-demand Streaming into a Web Site for Physicians
– Lessons in Process and Production: A Website for Shared Medical Decision Making

Concurrent D – Digital Photography  –

  Learning and Working with the New Medium 

  (Monday, 6/25 at 1:00pm – 5:00pm) 

– Using Digital in the Operating Room

– Digital Photography for Medical Documentation in Honduras 2000 
– Applied Digital Photography, One Pixel at a Time

– The New Blue Diazo

Concurrent E – HeSCA Showcase (Tuesday 6/26 8:00am – 11:30am)

– A Review of Health Sciences Communications Professionals Continuing Education Needs

– Pondering Distance: Questions to Ask Faculty When Designing Courses for On-line Delivery

– Creating Dynamic Poster Displays with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
– Web Content Management for Medical Centers
– Developing Interactive Biomedical Animations using Macromedia Flash

Concurrent F – Digital Techniques (Tuesday 6/26 at  9:00am)

– The Power of PowerPoint Plug-Ins

– Digital Group Pictures

– Powerful PowerPoint Presentations

Concurrent H – InfoShare (Tuesday 6/26 at 1:30) 

Are you are speaker or moderator for this conference? The following guidelines may be useful:

Speaker Guidelines (PDF)

Moderator Guidelines (PDF)

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Charles Farmer

During the early 1970’s, the Director of the National Medical Audiovisual Center (NMAC), then an arm of the National Library of Medicine, brought directors of developing biocommunications units from across the continent to Atlanta, Georgia for a series of forums. These meetings defined a common purpose and set the agenda for the future of biomedical communications in America as we know it today. They also led directly to the creation of the Association of Biomedical Communications Directors (ABCD).

The NMAC leader with this vision was Charles Farmer. Charlie will again be addressing the profession, including some who attended those nascent gatherings, as he kicks off the Sunday afternoon management session. This is a must see for anyone in biocommunications management, those aspiring to it, or anyone interested in the history and future of our profession.

Mr. Farmer’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion featuring comments from past and present biocommunications associations presidents who will discuss past, present and future issues of importance to our profession.

 Moderator:  Jackson Townsend, PhD

Panelists:  Shelley Bader, Jamie Guth, Robert Turner, Reba Benschoter, Bennie Benschoter, Logan Ludwig

3:30 – 5:00pm  Sunday, June 24 

What’s Your Leading Color?

Barbara J. Crim,  RN, MBA

Suzan W. New, RN, MS

Do you feel like some people, such as co-workers or family members, are put on this earth to drive you crazy? Have you noticed that some people just rub you the wrong way? Ever wondered why? Come explore with us as we look at four basic leadership styles identifying their strengths and weaknesses. Walk away with ideas on how to more effectively interact with those who are unlike you.

Objectives:

1.  Identify four basic leadership styles.

2.  List characteristics of participant’s identified style.

3.  List ways this information helps us lead others.

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Perceptions and Misconceptions of Photographic Evidence

Gale Spring

"Seeing is believing" may be an acceptable way of dealing with photographs on a casual basis. When photographs are required to give a fair and accurate account of a scene or situation, a deeper analysis must be undertaken to determine how, why, when, where and by whom the photograph was created. Problems are often encountered in the interpretation of the image. Technically speaking all photographs "lie"; sometimes by accident and sometimes by deliberate misrepresentation. Using a variety of case studies, this presentation covers areas of difficulty in extracting facts from photographs and what photographs can and cannot reveal.

Mr. Gale E. Spring is an Associate Professor of Scientific Photography at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.  He came to RMIT University in 1988 after 13 years as the Director of Photographic Services for the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas. From his background in forensic and technical imaging, Gale finds himself involved at all levels of law enforcement, lecturing, consulting and acting as an expert witness in cases involving the interpretation of photographs used in evidence.  Gale is the Program Leader of the Southern Hemisphere’s only applied science degree program in scientific photography. The program awards degrees from Bachelor of Applied Science (B.App.Sc) to PhD’s.  The program embraces the internationalization of education and has many professional links throughout the world.

He is a Fellow of the BCA, a Fellow of the Institute of Photographic Technology, Inc., and a Registered Biological Illustrator (RBI) and Associate of the Australian Institute of Medical and Biological Illustration. He is very active in educational issues and a supporter of technical expertise in photographic arts and sciences.

Indexed Visuals – Not your "Traditional" Stock House

by William Westwood

Indexed Visuals is a one-of a-kind online database that currently represents the largest collection of stock medical illustrations in the world.  We at IV want it to also become the largest collection of medical photography in the world.  But why should medical photographers join Indexed Visuals and what could this new company have that photographers aren’t already getting from traditional stock houses?  Believe us, there’s plenty!  Attend this exciting presentation and find out why medical photographers and

Biocommunications departmental managers could be missing out on important opportunities for the creation of significant new income streams from their and their department’s medical image collections.  Learn how IV has come up with a corporate plan for your images that benefits you first and foremost and not some stock house bottom line through “high volume, low pricing” marketing strategies. There is a better way.  Whether you have a small number of images sitting in a drawer gathering dust or a large collection that’s not working hard for you, don’t miss this presentation.  We guarantee to provide thought-provoking information.

William B. Westwood is a graduate of the Medical Illustration Program at the Medical College of Georgia and worked on the staff of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for 10 years before starting his own business in 1982.  Westwood is Board Certified and has been active in the Association of Medical Illustrators since 1972. He was twice elected to the Board of Governors, is a Fellow in the Association and served in 1988 as President. Bill is a well-known speaker among medical illustrators on the issues of artist’s rights/copyright, marketing and pricing.  He created the Medical Illustration Source Book and guided its growth as Editor from 1982 through 2000. 

How education and certification can keep us in our medical and clinical photography job: A view on the situation from Denmark

Thomas Carlslund

In Denmark departments are being closed, and people fired. Doctors and nurses are doing our work.  We have an education for photography here in Denmark mostly pointed at commercial photography.   The organization I’m a member of are now looking in to making a specific education for clinical and medical photography.  The main issue is to insure our job and to make us a part of the system in which we work.  A question to be raised are: for many years we were part of the hospital culture and the doctors and science needed us, how come we are not as important now. Looking at digital development and demands for quality in our work we have a clear role to play within medical/clinical photography. So how do we get back on track?  This paper will take up the issue as the look from Denmark, with information on the development in Europe.

Educated medical/clinical photographer 1992.  Employed as medical/clinical photographer at the Finsen Center, Copenhagen University Hospital since 1995.  Chairman for SMBI since 1999; Board member of the photography group in the Danish Society of Journalists, Board member of EFSI.

Perinatel Bereavement Photography

Helen Farrah, RN, BSN and Matthew F. Zirakian

The Perinatal Bereavement Program at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, Massachusetts has been in existence for over a decade.  One aspect of this program is bereavement photography, which provides lasting keepsakes for families of their infants. Wanting to improve the quality of photographs provided to parents, a Perinatal Bereavement Photography Team was formed. This group is a collaboration of the 7 nurse photographers and the media services department. Photographs of all infants, some as young as 12 weeks gestation, are taken using black and white film. Consideration is given to specific requests as well as including family members in the photographs. A standard of practice was established regarding bereavement photography. Ongoing education is provided through review of their work as well as attendance at annual workshops. The group consists of no more than eight so the performance standard is maintained. A call rotation is maintained 24/7. The collaboration of the nurse photographers and the media services department provides an atmosphere for a successful program. 

Helen Farrah is the Clinical Leader/Tertiary Care Neonatal ICU and the coordinator of Perinatal Bereavement Program and Photography at Umass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA. She is Co-Chair of the Perinatal Bereavement Team and on the CPR for NICU Parents committee. She regularly presents on grieving and bereavement, as well as teaches a workshop on bereavement photography, "Photography in Grief". 

Matthew Zirakian is Director of Media Services at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA

The New Technology – Its Impact on Photographic Services at an Agricultural Research Station 
Joe Ogrodnick 
Supervisor, Photographic Services 
Cornell University New York State Agricultural Experiment Station 

This paper offers an overview on how digital imaging has impacted photographic services at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. The presenter will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the new technology as it relates to his work and share some personal views and insights on the whole process.

Joe Ogrodnick is Supervisor of Photographic Services at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. He is a fellow of the Association and currently Association Editor for the Journal of Biocommunications. 

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Ben Waggoner runs Interframe Media, a digital video consultancy. As one of the industry’s leading streaming media experts, he works with enterprises to develop and deploy digital video production methodologies, systems, and products. Widely recognized as a streaming media authority, Ben is a regular contributor to industry publications and a speaker at events including DVExpo and NAB. He is the world’s greatest compressionist.

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Digital Photography for Medical Documentation in Honduras 2000 
David A. Davolt, Sr., CHT 

Director of Biomedical Imaging
Nix Hospital Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center

A small group of physicians with differing specialties gathered to provide a vast array of surgical and medical care to residents of Santa Rosa de Copan and the Western areas of Honduras. Since 1982 the “South Texas Physician Outreach” organization has made several trips to Honduras and have flown many children and adult patients to Texas for surgeries that could not be performed in Honduras. Typically, the team is composed of 25-30 people. 

 

I provided Photographic support the previous two years using film technology (1998) and a combination of film and digital technology (1999). As the team photographer my primary responsibility is to document the sequence of the patients’ care throughout their treatment. In 1998 nearly 100 rolls of film were exposed during the trip and in 1999 nearly 2,000 digital images were exposed while still carried a film system as back up. On the 2000 trip over 2,000 digital images were exposed using only digital equipment.  This paper will discuss trip itinerary, the team make up and activities, the equipment used, and the attempt to send information back to the BCA web site. 

 

David A. Davolt began his medical photography career in 1974, in the US Air Force, when the need arose to document the progress of wounds of patient that were undergoing Hyperbaric Therapy.  He is a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist and has authored or co-authored over forty published professional and scientific papers.  His photographs are published throughout the hyperbaric and radiation oncology literature.  He is currently the Director of Biomedical Imaging at the Nix Hospital Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center managing the photographic functions of two treatment facilities and is the Unit Manager of the Nix Hospital Southwest Wound Care Center.  He has been a member of the BioCommunications Association for fifteen years and has held a number of positions in the organization at both the Chapter and International levels.  Currently he is the Clerk of the House of Delegates, and serves on the Board of Governors of the BCA. 

 

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Applied Digital Photography, One Pixel at a Time

Gordon Brown

 

In this program, Gordon will lay the framework for a better understanding of the Digital Photographic System using a MS PowerPoint program and a digital projector. Because digital photography is relatively new, many misconceptions have arisen which can cloud one’s

thinking, and lead them to making the wrong decisions regarding their photographic tasks.

 

Since the fast-moving pace of the digital imaging world is difficult to keep up with, this program is constantly being updated to make it as current as possible. Gordon will explain the major concepts you need to know to make excellent digital images. He will also explain, in depth, how digital images are formed, in advanced amateur and professional digital cameras. To help lead to a better understanding of the digital system, particular

attention will be paid to the following concepts:

1. Scientific uses of digital photography

2. Authentication software

3. Archiving images

4. Camera exposure sequence

5. Digital shutter lag

6. Digital zooms

7. Scanners

8. Interline and Full Frame CCD imagers

9. CFA interpolation

10. Color aliasing

11. Sensor "noise"

12. In-camera Image enhancement

13. Exposure latitude

14. Color reproduction

15. DPI vs. PPI

16. Service bureaus

 

Gordon Brown is a consultant for the Digital and Applied Imaging Division of Eastman Kodak and has been producing PowerPoint presentations for Kodak for more than ten years.

 

More about Gordon Brown here!

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The New Blue Diazo

Gabriel G. Unda

 

The PowerPoint presentation has become as ubiquitous as the blue diazo of old. Beyond the usual uses of PowerPoint as a creator of slides and electronic slide shows, its true strength lies in its ability to act as a container for digital media. This presentation explores the abilities of PowerPoint to emulate many forms of media including motion media, multi-image and virtual-reality. It also explores options for delivering the content created in PowerPoint, in forms that allow it to break free of platform specific constraints.

Gabriel Unda is Principal Photographer at the University of California at Davis. In this role he has guided the shift to digital photography and currently oversees the day-to-day operations of digital imaging. He has been speaking on the marriage of computers and photography for the past fifteen years.

 

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A Review of Health Sciences Communications Professionals Continuing Education Needs

Karen I. Adsit, EdD, Director, Walker Teaching Resource Center

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

This presentation will outline the results from a continuing education needs assessment survey conducted during the fall of 2000 of health communications professionals from AMI, ABCD, HeSCA and BCA. Questions to be addressed will be: What kinds of continuing education opportunities does this population need? What topics do the workforce see as pertinent? Who are the best providers to meet these continuing education needs? What is the best way to deliver continuing education needs? What are the barriers to participating in continuing education opportunities? Are there differences in the needs based on age or stage in career? Final results of the survey will be presented and discussed with implications for meeting these needs.

Pondering Distance: Questions to Ask Faculty When Designing Courses for On-line Delivery

Ellen (Marino) Nathan, M.Ed., Instructional Technology Coordinator

Butler University, Information Resources Department

Translation of traditional classroom materials into a dynamic on-line course requires more that just saving documents into html files and launching them onto a web site. Planning on how to create an educational experience where face to face interaction with students is limited is the key. Based on experiences of an instructional designer collaborating with faculty to develop on-line courses, this presentation will describe key questions to answer that will assist with on-line course development.

Creating Dynamic Poster Displays with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

Robin Fisher, Graphic Designer, Biomedical Communications/Learning Resources

J. H. Quillen College of Medicine

The plethora of graphics software programs available has created a maze of choices for the designer or medical faculty/staff member wishing to create effective scientific posters. Popular programs such as PowerPoint®, PageMaker®, Illustrator® and Photoshop® are so complex that anyone unfamiliar with the software can become bogged down by their profusion of features. A steep learning curve can keep the user from resolving even the simplest design problem, much less a scientific poster.

I will present a fast, flexible and cost-effective means of electronically creating attractive posters utilizing a combination of Adobe Illustrator® and Photoshop®. These roll-up digital posters (one-piece murals) have become preferred by customers over modular posters (i.e., separate components mounted on mat board). They are faster and easier to produce, allow for more sophisticated design solutions, and, being lighter, are generally easier to transport.

The presentation is divided into three parts:

1) Planning: using a designer/client checklist and organizing materials

2) Design/Production: setting up your document, typesetting and fonts, graphic file formats, shortcuts, working cross platform, file sizes and memory, and design tips

3) Proofing/Output of Job/Archiving: pdfs vs. hard copies, choosing print and lamination materials, working with service

bureaus vs. printing "in house," and archiving. Detailed notes for all participants will be provided in addition to demonstrating "part 2" of the presentation. In addition, a portfolio of my poster designs will be on hand for participants to review. 

Robin Fisher has worked as a designer in the department of Biomedical Communications for the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University since 1992. Prior to ETSU, she worked as a graphic artist in advertising. She graduated from Florida State University with a BA in visual communications in 1975.

Web Content Management for Medical Centers

Jamie Guth, Acting Director Public Affairs/Marketing, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

How do you implement a web system that allows for decentralized web content maintenance, while maintaining a consistent look and feel? How do you create a site that meets the needs of patients and visitors, while decreasing the amount of time needed to keep information current? How do you set up an interactive system where all at one site patients can find a specialist in one city and a primary care physician in another, get disease-specific information, primers on upcoming visits and listings of appropriate support groups and other services in their local community?

This presentation will provide an overview of the types of software available to help health care providers/systems, including template creation, email reminders to update contents, and database-driven software. It will also show the makeup of the necessary team and how to work with outside vendors, through the experiences at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a New Hampshire-wide healthcare system.

Developing Interactive Biomedical Animations using Macromedia Flash

Susanna Halpine, Artist-Biochemist, Playa del Ray, California

For Leonardo Da Vinci, a writer can represent a story with a pen, but a painter renders it "more easily satisfying and less tedious to understand." Traditional journals have become ineffectual in describing biochemical reaction, while changes in conformation, rotation, and molecular "docking" are readily perceived through animation.

The computer offers a new medium, distinct from print and TV and Macromedia Flash provides the tools to exploit it. With scaleable vector graphics, interactivity, and open-source code, Flash has brought the Internet of age. Educators can now take a "right-brain" approach to teaching science and medicine, translating topics into nonlinear formats such as animation, with hyperlinks to in-depth information and printouts for take-away messages. Animations can reach past math/science-fear, across linguistic and age barriers, to instruct students from kindergarten to adult education. Advances in chemistry now influences day-to-day decisions within courtrooms, kitchens, and voting booths. We can no longer ignore populations that learn through non-textual means.

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The Power of PowerPoint Plug-Ins

Sam Giannavola

Through the use of free or low cost add-ins (programs that work within or as an aid to PPT), there are many functions which can be automated to make PPT a more powerful and more efficient tool.  Among the functions to be discussed will be batch importation of raster  graphics, creating a truly executable file from any PPT presentation, creating a CD that will automatically run a PPT presentation on a computer with or without PowerPoint being on that machine, and more.  All these add-ins are easy to use and readily available at little or no cost.

Digital Group Pictures

by Sue Loomis

I will discuss the preparation: group meetings and advertisements; the photography: 4×5 camera, grouping people, and taking nine different photographs in three days; scanning the film, the merging images and adding text; printing the 6’ x 3’ image; hanging the image and the unveiling; also producing and distributing 11×14 prints.  I will include the good, the bad, and the ugly of the whole experience.

Susanne Loomis is the Production Coordinator for the Radiology Educational Media Services Department at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been working in the field for over 14 years. Sue graduated from RIT with a Masters degree in Cross-Disciplinary Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Photographic Communications. She also has two other Bachelor of Science degrees: Fine Art Photography, and Health and Physical Education.

Powerful PowerPoint Presentations

Gordon Brown

Gordon will present to attendees who want to learn how to produce convincing PowerPoint slide presentations the easiest, most straightforward, graphic, and creative way.  Photographers who want to show their photographs in on-screen shows, or who want to

make 35 mm slides and avoid the most common mistakes.  Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful presentation program that has many options, perhaps too many. When you are putting a presentation together it is sometimes difficult to know if you doing the right thing.

Are the files too large? Is the program too slow? Why are my graphics so bad? Is this the

best way of doing it? What are the tricks of the trade?  He will illustrate his program using the same techniques that he will be explaining. During the program you will see the majority

of the applications within PowerPoint actually being used.

During this program, Gordon will demonstrate, explain, and show you how to produce the following;

Page setup, Sample Presentations, Template design, Slide layouts, Color Schemes, Graphic file folders, Digital files, Imaging software, Pixel size, Inserting pictures, JPG, GIF, GIF 89a files, Arrange images, Graphics, Acquiring photos, Picture CD, Screen Capture, Scanning for presentation, Menu "Secrets", B/W notes, File sorting, Menus explained, Hyperlinks, Slide transitions, Animations, Avoiding problems, Photo CD, Making 35 mm slides and Finishing your show.

Gordon Brown is a consultant for the Digital and Applied Imaging Division of Eastman Kodak and has been producing PowerPoint presentations for Kodak for more than ten years.

More about Gordon Brown here.

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