And now the fun stops
Posted on Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Well, only in a manner of speaking.
You will remember from some time back that I have undertaken a clinical trial on potassium supplementation in ICU. Well the good news is that we have finished enrollment and all patients have completed the actual study period.
The bad news is that the hard bit starts. We have to collect a huge amount of data on each patient. Then that data will have to be entered into a spreadsheet. Fortunately one of my colleagues will then do the statistical analysis for me. Finally we will have to write it up and submit the completed article to one of the better peer-reviewed critical care journals.
So, just when I thought I was getting my life back, another thing has cropped up to occupy my spare time. However, this is nothing like as bad as exam preparation as there is no concrete deadline looming. So, if it takes a year to finish all up, then so be it. There’s no hurry and plenty of life to live in the meantime.
Uhh, collecting and editing data is pretty boring, but small steps (an hour daily) eventually bring you to the end. To ease the “pain” and to save time, use SPSS – best statistics spreadsheet.