Account / Access Questions
I have forgotten my password.
How do I change my password?
How do I renew access to the instructor/academic area?
I have the correct username and password but I still cannot access the member's area and the VAM simulation and workbook.
I have successfully registered. However, I am not receiving the confirmation email that authenticates my email address I registered with VAM and allows me to activate my VAM membership
I am having problems with the VAM registration. How does it work?
Why do I have to register?
Will my registration data be shared with third parties?My email address has changed. What should I do?
My email address has changed. How will this affect my access to the VAM web site which uses my old email address as my VAM username?
Can I share my individual instructor access password with others?
Simulation Questions
How do I use the VAM web simulation?
How do I reference an electronic educational resource?
What can I click on in the VAM web simulation?
I am not sure what the icons on the VAM simulation screen represent.
How do I find out?I cannot view the Chinese translation of the APSF workbook
I cannot view the VAM simulation
The simulation appears cropped - It seems to be too large for my monitor screen.
Can I have the VAM simulation on CD?
Can I have the workbook on CD?
Whys are the VAM simulation and workbook only available via the Web?
I put a link in my Powerpoint but when I click the link the Simulation gives me an error.
I cannot see the text on the VAM simulation screen. Instead of the characters, I see squares.
I cannot set the language of the VAM legends to my language.
I cannot set the gas color code to be the same as my local environment
The simulation sometimes runs too fast in real-time when I am trying to make a teaching point .
I have an anesthesia machine question. How can I find an answer?
Why isn't the VAM simulation a Flash movie?
What is "Link to this Simulation & Settings"?
What is "Genetic polymorphism"?
Can I get a copy of the original intubation videos on the VAM airway device web site?
I have forgotten my password.
You can request that your password be sent to you. Make sure you enter
the email address under which you are registered as a VAM user when
requesting your forgotten password. Click on the link at the bottom
of the login check page to request your
password.
How do I change my password?
Login, go to http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/members/reg_profile.php,
enter the new password (twice) and click "Save".
How do I renew access to the instructor/academic area?
Assuming that you will renew by credit card (recommended), please go to the web page:
http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/payment.php,
click the "Continue" button, log in using your VAM username (full email address) and password and follow the instructions.
I have the correct username
and password but I still cannot access the member's area and the VAM
simulation and workbook.
You may be on a proxy server which does not allow the HTAccess script
that controls who can access the member's area to run. Sorry for the
technical jargon but essentially the problem is not something that we
can help you with because it is the way that your server appears to
be configured.
To confirm if the problem is with your server, try to access the VAM simulation from your home or from a public library or from some other location that is NOT run by the server on which you were unable to access VAM.
I have successfully registered.
However, I am not receiving the confirmation email that authenticates
my email address I registered with VAM and allows me to activate my
VAM membership
The email address that you registered with VAM has a spam fliter that
requires VAM personnel to read each email from the spam filter and follow
different time-consuming procedures such as copying back a displayed
number to verify that the confirmation email is not spam from a bulk
mailer. With more than 18,000 regiestered users, a very small team and
an even smaller budget, the VAM team is unable to spend the time in
authenticating itself to different spam blockers. Please register an
alternate email address without a spam blocker so that you can receive
the confimation email and activate your VAM membership. For spam blockers
that check whether the email originates from a list of approved email
senders, please add "VAM Webmaster" <vam@anest.ufl.edu>
to that list if you wish to be able to receive the confirmation email.
I
am having problems with the VAM registration. How does it work?
Registration is a two-step process that provides free access to the
VAM simulation and workbook.
Step1: Register and provide the requested information including a genuine email address and password. The email address that you provide must be genuine because we will immediately send an email message to that email address to authenticate it.
Step 2: Allow a few minutes to elapse before checking your email. Inside the authentication email, there will be a link that you need to click to activate your VAM membership and privileges. If your email package does not support clickable text, CUT and PASTE the URL to your browser (manually keying in the URL may lead to errors). If the email address you provided is invalid or mistyped, you will obviously not receive the authentication email and will not be able to access the VAM simulation and workbook.
Remember that your username is the email address that you registered, not your name.
How do I use the VAM
web simulation?
An animated tutorial to help you use the VAM web simulation is available
at http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/simulationhelp.html
What can I click on in the
VAM web simulation?
The cursor will change from an arrow to a hand when the cursor is over
an interactive icon, i.e., an icon representing a control that you can
adjust.
I am not sure what the icons
on the VAM simulation screen represent.
How do I find out?
Place the cursor over the icon and in most instances a photograph of
the actual component represented by the icon will appear in a "picture
box". The picture box is in the middle of the orange column to
the right of the VAM simulation screen. When the cursor is not over
an icon that has a corresponding photograph, the picture box is replaced
by the gas color code legend.
I cannot view the workbook
Download the free Flash player at www.adobe.com.
I cannot view the Chinese
translation of the APSF workbook
Download the free Adobe Flash Player at www.adobe.com
I cannot view the VAM
simulation
Make sure you have installed the latest version of the free Adobe
Shockwave player at www.adobe.com.
The VAM simulation is not a Flash movie.
The simulation appears
cropped - It seems to be too large for my monitor screen.
Our transparent reality simulations, including VAM, are best viewed
with a monitor resolution of 1024x768 or higher. To change
monitor resolution in Windows, right-click anywhere on the desktop,
select Properties, then Settings, and then Screen Resolution and adjust
to 1024 x 768 or higher. To reset your monitor resolution back to the
original setting, repeat the instructions above.
I have changed my monitor
resolution to 1024 x 768 and it seems like the simulation is still just
a little bit too large for my monitor screen.
If the simulation still appears slightly cropped, your browser toolbars
may be using up space on your monitor screen leaving less display area
for the simulation screen. Press the F11 function key to increase the
display area by minimizing the web browser toolbars. To reinstate the
toolbars, press the F11 button again. The F11 button is a toggle button
and will alternately turn the browser toolbars on and off.
Can I have the VAM simulation
on CD?
Sorry. No. The VAM simulation is only available via the web.
Can I have the workbook
on CD?
Sorry. No. The workbook is only available via the web.
Whys are the VAM simulation
and workbook only available via the Web?
Our funding model is based on monitoring traffic at our web site which
we leverage into corporate sponsorship. Our web site design and
our dissemination model is based on a "one use, one hit" policy.
Making the materials available only from the Web minimizes reproduction
and mailing costs and facilitates version control, ensuring that every
user worldwide is always using the latest material as soon as it is
updated.
I do not have a fast
Internet connection in my lecture hall. Can I still use your simulations
in my lectures?
Yes. To teach with our simulations in an area without fast Internet
access, first access the desired simulation from a laptop, notebook
or portable computer at a nearby location with Internet access. Once
the simulation is working the computer can be disconnected from the
Internet. Make sure your battery has sufficient charge for the trip.
Keeping your portable computer powered and your web-browser running,
transport the computer to the location without Internet access and you
should be able to use the simulation there.
If you will use the VAM simulation and your laptop goes into "sleep" mode, click on "Reset" (on the orange column on the right of the VAM simulation screen) and then "Pause Simulation" (an instructor VAM feature) before transport. When you arrive at the lecture hall, click on "Reset" before using the VAM simulation.
I would like to use
your simulations in a Powerpoint presentation that I am preparing. Can
I do that?
Yes. There are two ways you can do that depending on whether you have
fast Internet access in the lecture room.
If you have fast Internet access in the lecture room:
Create a slide with hypertext that points to a URL for the simulation
that you want to use. During the lecture, click on the hypertext to
access the desired simulation. Run the simulation. When you are done
using the simulation, use the back arrow button on your web browser
toolbar to return to your slide show.
If you have problems with the above method use the method below.
If you do NOT have fast Internet access in the lecture room:
STEP1. To teach with the desired simulation in an area without fast
Internet access, first access the simulation from a laptop, notebook
or portable computer at a nearby location with Internet access. Once
the simulation is working the computer can be disconnected from the
Internet. Make sure your battery has sufficient charge for the trip.
Keeping your portable computer powered and your web-browser running,
transport the computer to the location without Internet access and you
should be able to use the simulation there. If you will use the VAM
simulation and your laptop goes into "sleep" mode, click on
"Reset" (on the orange column on the right of the VAM simulation
screen) and then "Pause Simulation" (an instructor VAM feature)
before transport. When you arrive at the lecture hall, click on "Reset"
before using the VAM simulation.
STEP 2. Create your Powerpoint presentation and create a page with placeholder
text to remind you to go to the simulation. Open your Powerpoint slide
show. When you get to the reminder slide, press the "Alt"
and "Tab" buttons simultaneously. A series of icons
representing the different programs running should be displayed. To
navigate to and select the desired program, keep the "Alt"
key down while pressing and releasing the "Tab" key until
the desired icon is selected. When the icon representing the browser
running the simulation is selected, a square will appear aroud the "e"
icon if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer. When the desired
icon is selected, release the "Tab" key to bring that program
"to the front". When you are done using the simulation, use
the "Alt"/"Tab" key combination to select the Powerpoint
slide show icon and resume your lecture.
I put a link in my Powerpoint but when I click the link the Simulation gives me an error.
Use the "If you do NOT have fast Internet access in the lecture room:" method
in the Powerpoint instructions here.
I cannot see the text
on the VAM simulation screen. Instead of the characters, I see squares.
Only users in Eastern Europe such as Slovenia and Croatia have reported
this problem. This problem can be resolved on computers with Windows
XP Pro. Go to Control Panel, select Regional settings, select Unicode
and select English.
I cannot set the language
of the VAM legends to my language.
In the default English language VAM simulation screen, click on the
flashing text at the top of the orange column on the right of the VAM
simulation screen and select the language you wish to use.
I cannot set the gas color
code to be the same as my local environment
In the default English language VAM simulation screen, click on the
text "Gas color code" on the orange column to the right of
the simulation screen and select the appropriate gas color code (US,
ISO, Japanese, Georgian)
The simulation sometimes
runs too fast in real-time when I am trying to make a teaching point
.
Click on the "Pause animation" text on the orange column to
the right of the VAM simulation screen to freeze the simulation.
Click on the flashing "Resume simulation" text to resume the
simulation.
The fact that the gas
molecule icons are visible and color-coded sometimes interfere with
my teaching objectives because it makes it too easy for students to
figure out the problem such as a hypoxic O2 supply.
Click on the "Hide Gases" text on the orange column to the
right of the VAM simulation screen to hide the gas molecule icons.
Click on the "Show Gases" text to make the color-coded gas
molecule icons visible.
Why do I have to
register?
We need this data to know the composition of our audience and their
perceived needs to tailor our offerings accordingly. We also add your
email address to an "announce-only" mailing list so that we
can inform you of new features and simulations as we develop them.
Will my registration
data be shared with third parties?
Absolutely not. We adhere to the University
of Florida's privacy policy and guarantee that your data will not
be shared with third parties.
My
email address has changed. What should I do?
The easiest option is for you to
(a) re-register as a VAM user with your new email address at http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/register.php
and
(b) unsubscribe your OLD email address from the VAM listserv
To unsubscribe, simply send an email while logged in under your OLD
email address to
VAMUSERS-L-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@lists.ufl.edu
without any text in the body of the message
My email address has changed. How will this affect my access to the VAM web site which uses my old email address as my VAM username?
Your VAM username (i.e., your old email address and password) will still allow you access to VAM web site.
However, you will not receive Listserv announcements once emails sent to your old email address stop being forwarded to your new email address. I would advise you to re-register with the VAM web site as a user with your new email address as your VAM username.
If
I purchase instructor/academic access to the website for training and
classroom use, may I share the password with my students or is access
limited to one user? I just want to clarify that I'm not infringing on any
rights by using this in my classroom.
As an instructor who purchases individual access at $100/yr,
you can use your instructor access during lectures in a class or outside a
class but you are not entitled to share your password with your students.
If you would like your individual students to also have access to the
instructor/academic area, a site license with discounts as high as 50% is
available depending on the number of students at your institution who will
be covered by the annual site license.
I have an anesthesia
machine question. How can I find an answer?
You can begin by posting your question to the VAM bulletin board at
http://www.simanest.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl.
Be as specific as you can and provide as much detail as possible.
The simulation requires Adobe Shockwave, at least 128 MB of RAM and a 600 MHz CPU as well as an 800 x 600 resolution on a color display. Most PDAs do not meet these above criteria currently and we do not design VAM for use on a PDA.
Why isn't the VAM simulation a Flash movie?
There are important parts of the simulation that cannot be coded with the latest version of Flash. Currently Director offers greater control.
How do I reference an electronic educational resource?
To reference an electronic educational resource such as the transparent reality simulations on the Virtual Anesthesia Machine web site according to the APA style for Web references, use the recommendations for Electronic Media and URLs
As a concrete example, to reference the VAM simulation of gas solubility, use:
Lampotang S, Lizdas DE (2006): Transparent reality simulation of solubility of gases in water. Retrieved <insert date of retrieval here>, from University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology, Center for Simulation, Advanced Learning and Technology, Virtual Anesthesia Machine Web site: http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/members/instructor/anestphysics/watergassolubility.html
What is "Link to this Simulation & Settings"?
If you click on this tag in a simulation, the URL in the address bar will be modified to save the simulation settings currently in effect. You may then copy and paste the modified URL into a Word, Powerpoint, email,or bookmark it or imbed the modified URL into a link in a web page or electronic document. This allows you to efficiently initialize the simulation to convey specific teaching points. See examples below.
For example, consider the two compartment pharmacokinetic model. Here is an oral dosing regime. The concentration in the blood has not leveled off above 3.5 after a full day. Here is the same regime with the addition of an initial bolus. The concentration has stabilized quickly.
This simulation is a single compartment model if the K12 value is set to zero. Here is a 12 hour infusion running as such, and with an added initial bolus.
What is "Genetic polymorphism"?
Genetic polymorphism is used to represent the inter-patient variability that we program into some of our simulations. The variability can be at the pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic level in our simulations. Click on the Genetic polymorphism button to observe the range in responses between patients to the same drug administration regimen. Upon moving the cursor away from the Genetic polymorphism button, the patient response reverts to that of the average "standard" patient.
Airway videos not running on my Mac; OSX 10.4, have Quicktime, Real
Player and Windows Media Player. Suggestions?
Do you have the Adobe Flash Player installed? Airway videos require the Adobe Flash player. Download it here.
Can I get a copy of the original intubation videos on the VAM airway device web site?
We had to obtain patient consent for the videos because they involved the use of different airway devices on real patients. The original videos had to be edited to remove instances where the towel fell off the face and the patient could be identified or instances where the clinician or the clinician’s ID could be identified.
For these confidentiality and other reasons, we unfortunately cannot comply to the numerous requests we receive for the videos.
At http://vam.anest.ufl.edu/downloadhelp.html, we have instructions on how to use the VAM simulation off line at a location without Internet access – it may be possible that the same technique would work for the videos on the VAM web site.