Informational video about asthma

[MedicEne]

Hello All Im a medical student in london and i wanted to share with you a video i made about asthma, I hope you enjoy it and have a great day

youtube.com/watch?v=uAcZ3fZ...(Not working as expected?)

[Rosabeth]

This is an excellent video explains asthma so anyone can understand it. Just add a little about the dangers and then show it in schools and hospital waiting rooms and anywhere else appropriate. So many people are so quick to say "It's only asthma".

[MedicEne in reply to Rosabeth]

Hi Rosabeth, Thank you ! Yes my little brother suffers from asthma and many times people are very quick to say "its only asthma" without understanding the implications! I will be sure to include the dangers in future videos. Have a great day

[Hidden]

It's a good idea, and, yes, it was quite enjoyable but I do wonder who your target audience is. Most of us on this forum will already be quite well informed about our condition and so will be able to follow this. But the delivery of this presentation is quite fast, and for the uninformed the more technical aspects of asthma explained in the latter third might be confusing and even off-putting. There is a lot of terminology (for the general public much of it probably unfamiliar) to take in in a short space of time.

For those who are asthmatic, and who have some understanding of their condition, this is quite fun. Otherwise, I'm not so sure. To pick up on Rosabeth's comment, I'm all for educating the public at large about the realities of suffering from asthma, and showing information films in waiting rooms and in schools is a good idea but I'm not convinced that this film (as it stands) is the way to do it.

[MedicEne in reply to Hidden]

Hello Maggie thank you for such a phenomenal comment and feedback, i really appreciate it. Im still very new to making videos ( it was one of my new years resolutions to do something i am not comfortable with)

As a medical student we do learn alot of the details, hence why it can be a bit difficult to find the balance.

my idea was to give an over view of what asthma is and go into a bit of detail, I would then have a more complex article of asthma on my website. But how would you amend the video? Do you think I should go slower and not include the detailed 3rd portion ? Thank you very much for your feed back I really appreciate it, I hope you have a great day

[Hidden in reply to MedicEne]

It really does depend on your target audience. You could do information films on asthma for primary school children, secondary school children (11 - 16), A level students, undergraduates studying medicine, asthma sufferers, general public, and each one would be different. Your job as producer/director is to understand what is appropriate for each of those audiences and then to communicate it in a way that will not only inform, but will also be interesting and entertaining, both of which are important if you want to hold their attention. And remember, if you don't manage to hold their attention then it's unlikely that they will remember much of it. They are also unlikely to want to do any further reading on the subject.

Make no mistake, it's not easy an thing to do, particularly if the film is only going to be about five minutes long. The first thing to remember is to be as objective as you can when planning it. Put yourself in the shoes of a member of your audience. You, as a medical student, understand what you are talking about (at least I hope you do😀), but will your target audience? You are familiar with terms such as IGE antibodies, dendritic cells, eosinophilis, they are second nature to you, so it is easy for you to understand how they relate to each other. But will the same be true of your audience? Remember how long it took you to learn what you are discussing, and then consider that you are trying to impart some of that to your audience in a matter of seconds. So how can you get it across in a way that is going to be accessible to them. What are the most important points in the story (and I use that word quite deliberately, there is a story to tell even in scientific papers). I really enjoyed the drawings, it's always a good idea to have some illustration (I always enjoyed illustrated lectures when I was doing my degree, and I still enjoy illustrated talks now), but yes, I do think you need to go a little slower.

As far as terminology is concerned, remember that for some audiences the old saying 'less is more', might be appropriate. In a time slot of only a few minutes, it's better to make a few points well, than many badly (though to be fair, I don't think anything of what you did in this little film was bad). As an exercise why don't you think about that film you've made in terms of being aimed at a group of nine and ten year olds. I don't suggest you make it, as a medical student you're not going to have a lot of spare time, but think about it? As you do so, remember what you and your friends were capable of at that age:-).

I think your overall idea of an overview (almost introductory?) film on asthma on your website and then having having a more complex written article is a very good idea. In the latter you will have more time to explain the details that had to be left out of the film. And I agree with Rosabeth that having a bit in the film explaining how dangerous asthma can be (the number of fatalities from the condition per year for example, a percentage of which could have been avoided) would be a good idea.

Good luck with it.

[MedicEne in reply to Hidden]

Wow thank you alot, that is alot to take in and to digest. But as you rightfully said it is difficult to do it in the time span of a few mins, I didnt want to just do a detailed lecture on asthma as i believe that could be quite boring (and there are probably lots of videos out there already). But at the same time i didnt want it to be too shallow, perhaps i cannot have both. Either way for now i think i will keep trying to improve on them as i am still very new to using video as a medium. Thank you so much for you amazing feed back i really appreciate it.

[Rosabeth]

Obviously I do understand the implications of asthma but the usual educational videos are very slow and long drawn out and I for one never watch the end as I am bored. I did say that it needed a little more info as to the seriousness of asthma but I think the quick easy to follow info came over well a little more polish and I think it would get the message over really well shown in the right places.

[MedicEne in reply to Rosabeth]

Thank you very much! I will keep practicing and making future videos better

[RichardFriedel]

Well I can recommend a Video by Mr. M.R.Gach PhD tagged worry see youtube.com/watch?v=PiSq-Wn...(Not working as expected?) It shows that lip acupressure has a very strong effect on the sympathetic nervous system Other acupoints seem to my mind to be very much less effective for deep breathing.

If you tightly purse your lips you will get the same effect. It can really be no surprise that this cured my asthma after training the reflex.

Please reply on this. Richard Friedel