No, This is Not My Halloween Costume. She is A Nerdcore Learning Tool for Med Students. Seriously.

via nerdcorelearning.com

The brilliant crew at Nerdcore Learning is launching a very special fantasy game, called "The Healing Blade," to help hardcore geeky med students learn about safe antibiotic use.

That's right. This art has a purpose.

And it's probably not the one you're thinking. (Ladies, there are some nifty male characters too. The Nerdcore gang, while unfortunately burdened with an excess of XY gametes, didn't forget about us entirely).

Think WoW or 'Magik: The Gathering' for docs. Nerdcore's Health Blade card game will be launching March 11th at AMSA.

Since I'll be hitting the streets of #sxsw that day with @shazow @limedaring @oldbailey @edbennett and #getupandmove, I figured I'd start blowing your minds *now* about the future of 'gaming for health.'

Hint: It ain't always about helping the PATIENTS learn!

Another Hint: It ain't always about going with an mHealth app first.

If you're headed to that mecca of medical socializing AMSA (*cough cough* my TEDMED friends, @beccacamp et. al.) visit the Nerdcore crew at Booth 1.

I got a sneak preview of the game last night and the art, attention to symbolic detail, and back narrative are gonna give Cameron's Avatar a run for its money, especially given the fact that this game was built by 2 docs (one Hopkins, one 'recovering' HIT guru and an Ozzie med student programming wizard).

In their words: "We’re a publishing start-up devoted to developing unique study-aids for medical students. The best part is that a portion of the proceeds from Nerdcore Learning go to support a charity that we helped establish called the HOPEConnectsKIDS Research Initiative."

I have a feeling my new friends at the NBME (holler @ambermontanano @r0wsbud and @jillianketterer) should check this out. FYI yo!

To say these guys are doing amazing things in a hidebound system doesn't even *begin* to cover the constraints they're breaking out of to build this kind of thing.

You should follow them on Twitter:
Hon = @dr1337
Francis = @MedSimple
Arun = @arunmathewsmd

And you should check out their Board Review Medical Mnemonics iPhone app ($1.99) in the iTunes App Store.

This little vixen, by the way, is Ceftriazone. She is broad-spectrum, isn't she? :)

Posted via web from Jen's Posterous