Human Factors and You (your career, that is…)
Human factors and medicine
Factors in Medical Error (from Erika Brown, 4/24/02) Vast information recall Multiple alarms (33 in one ICU) Long work hours Complex interfaces Communication breakdown between doctors and nurses High stress levels Complex technologies Often reactive rather than proactive Intermittent contact with high patient volume Doctors’ handwriting
Factors in Medical Error (from Erika Brown, 4/24/02) “Although it allegedly calls for Isordil, the pharmacist filled it as Plendil. The jury's $450,000 judgment, finding both the cardiologist and pharmacist negligent, is believed to be the first of its kind nationwide to focus solely on bad handwriting.” – American Medical News, 1999
Factors in Medical Error (from Erika Brown, 4/24/02) The need to reduce clinical error Clinical error rates may be as high as 50% Inter-clinician variability Internal inconsistencies Nonstandard use of medical terminology “Standardization of clinical decisions is needed not only for clinical practice but also for rigorous clinical research.” Computerized protocols Standardize clinical decisions Lead to uniform implementation of clinical interventions But a whole new set of problems is introduced!
Human factors and medicine Our own Peter Viccellio (NYTimes)NYTimes Human Factors MD web site Human Factors MD Atul Gawande: Better Human behavior and infection control
Graduate training in human factors Gary Perlman’s list of top Ph.D. programstop Ph.D. programs HFES’s list of graduate programs list of graduate programs A student recommends Master’s & Ph.D. programs General resource: Discussion of careers in human factors (mostly true) Discussion of careers in human factors JOB BANK – (Some require only a Bachelor’s degree; some are unspecified.) Time-Warner UI Designer (BA) Time-Warner UI Designer Usability Analyst (2 yrs experience) Information Architect/UI Lead (BA yrs experience) Usability Analyst Information Architect/UI Lead Interaction Designer (2-4 yrs experience + portfolio) Interaction Designer
Professional organizations ACM’s SIGCHI (Special Interest Group in CHI)SIGCHI HFES (Human Factors and Ergonomics Society) HFES UPA (Usability Professionals’ Organization) UPA And many others…many others
Human use of technology: Recent stories in the news Are you addicted to Facebook? Brain-Twitter project offers hope to paralyzed patients Brain-Twitter project offers hope to paralyzed patients Dangers of tweeting in professional settings Dangers of tweeting Many others!!