I am Kaustav Bera, a medical student, currently pursuing an undergraduate training to become a doctor in Medical College, Kolkata. Currently in the 3rd year of my course, i enjoy the process of learning beyond the usual rigid framework of didactic lectures and textbook oriented education prevalent in medical schools all over India. This passion for learning in an uncluttered environment, where the individual's personalised skills is given more credence over rote formulae based education, has led me to search for new avenues. In this quest I came across the 'User Driven Learning' Network. This was all what I had hoped for, a scope for the process of learning by actually doing things, and under the tutelage of the UDHC network that comprises global educators and allied health professionals along with other interested fellow students from India and beyond, I have been allowed to think beyond the traditional dictum. This network, that i now represent, has allowed me to question findings without quivering in fear of going wrong, it has allowed me to come to conclusions myself as well as fostered the skill of unstructured and free thinking. Although ignorant in the clinical decision making, the helpful and co-operative approach of fellow 'Users' in the system has prompted me to come to diagnoses often by reading up on cases i would otherwise have no clue about. It has allowed me to be aware of the various modalities of judgement and decision making skills which would definitely allow me to become a better and more well-oriented health professional.

My name is Arin Basu, and I am an ENT surgeon, an Environmental Epidemiologist, and a Health Services Researcher; I teach and work at the University of Canterbury Health Sciences Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have been associated with the User Driven healthcare for a few years now and my interests are in blending and researching the role of social media and web in user driven health care movement. User driven health care is ushering in a new paradigm in health care delivery aimed at not only empowering patients and caregivers, but additionally, it aims to synthesize the patient's lived experiences and the caregivers' perspectives with real time physician perspective and expert skills that are imparted at the level of the providers. More importantly, by bringing in evidence based practice and knowledge base in the caregiving process, it not only standardizes and contextualized treatment and a holistic patient management, we are actually changing the paradigm of thinking and working about patient care. This new generation of blending will create an informed patient population, and will pave the way for enabling delivery of high quality health care and bring effective, efficacious, efficient healthcare practices within reach of you. You are the focus here. More power to user driven healthcare. Come, join us and be part of the community.

I’m Joan Young In 1992 I was diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia, ITP, an autoimmune disease where your body attacks your platelets. As treatment after treatment failed and my platelet count hovered near zero, I began to look elsewhere. Luckily I found a reiki nurse, macrobiotic counselors, an ayurvedic physician, and others who helped me regain my health. The doctors I told discounted my recovery, so I created a web site, and founded an organization to help others diagnosed with ITP. That’s when I learned I was not alone. I heard from many people who also discovered things outside of the medical mainstream that raised their platelet count. There was a whole world of healing and learning that was hidden. The stories just needed to be gathered, accepted, and shared. We, the patients, were given a voice. We continue to learn from each other. We continue to share and our collective wisdom has helped others recover and live full lives. Joan Young Consultant Platelet Disorder Support Association 133 Rollins Ave. Suite 5 Rockville, MD 20852 www.pdsa.org