Member Services
Rockface Events – making expert knowledge accessible, memorable and fun
Rockface is all about learning the stuff that really matters ‘at the Rockface’. Uniquely, our content is driven by our members, and is delivered by the best hand-picked clinician-communicators. Every effort is made to minimise costs: we’d rather advertise by word of mouth and use ‘basic’ venues than spend your money on a smart address. We work with a small group of dedicated partners – all with a health service/science background who only charge the real costs associated with organizing and running the event. The environment is also high on our list of priorities and every effort is being made to progress toward carbon neutral conferencing.
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Rockface Conferences- The Rockface Conference programme is driven by our members. Any full member can propose a topic and, if this is approved by the faculty, a preliminary programme will be drawn up. Then, if there is sufficient demand by delegates to cover costs, the event will take place. All conferences are accredited for CME points. View events
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Bespoke events - Rockface also coordinates events on behalf of individual hospitals, hospital trusts, regions and other healthcare organizations. These include workshops, round-table consensus meetings and trouble-shooting sessions with expert panels selected to address a particular challenge. Contact us if you would like to know more.
Rockface Media Library – just-in-time, carbon free learning
Part of our mission is to reduce the need to travel to conferences and create a repository of world-class expert knowledge that makes learning possible at any time, anywhere. The majority of our material is stored in a growing library of short, succinct video clips covering a wide range of topics and including expert-interviews, presentations and practical demonstrations. Thanks to educational grants from industry, a number of these clips are available to all members, but the main body of learning material is only viewable by full-members. Where appropriate, material has been accredited and – on completion of a short series of questions that can be downloaded from the site - we will issue a CME certificate. (Please note, only full-members can apply for CME points.)
Other material in the library includes slides from all of our events and information that members have either requested or generated themselves. We are adding new material all of the time so take a regular look at our content and if there is something you would like to see that isn’t there, tell us about it.
Rockface Best Practice Forum - making common sense common knowledge
This forum aims to promote best practice, stimulate innovation and encourage the uptake of new ideas and technology. It is about sharing those useful things you wished you hadn’t had to learn the hard way and discovering solutions you could kick yourself for not thinking of.
Healthcare professionals are innovators by nature but too many good ideas never leave the mind of their creator. This forum provides a platform for members to share the best practice they have developed and present new ideas for solving problems. It is also a forum for testing your ideas on experts, finding colleagues to further develop projects and finding a commercial partner to help bring your new idea into the clinic.
The Best Practice Forum is for full-members only. Members generally submit a short video clip (3 minutes max) on which they present their topic. Text is also welcomed if more appropriate. Submissions will be reviewed by the appropriate faculty members and, if approved, they will be made available to members on the site. (Members can also visit our studio if they do not have access to a basic video camera or if their initial submission needs to be a higher quality before being posted on the site.) Members whose submissions are posted on the site will be invited to become guest members of the faculty for a period of 12 months. If their area of expertise is covered by a Rockface event they may also be invited to lecture.
This is a brand new service that will grow and expand as members propose new issues. It currently covers 4 main areas:
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Carbon-free clinics forum - It could be argued that the biggest threat to human health over the coming decades is global warming. It is not surprising then that many healthcare workers are amongst those most concerned about the environmental impact of their daily lives – and they are also best placed to develop environmentally friendly practices in hospitals without compromising patient care. This forum is the place to share your ideas for greener working. No matter how simple or complex, small or radical – no matter how trivial you may consider them -it is your ideas that will make a difference. Submit them, our faculty will review them and we will publish those that add value.
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Infection Control forum - Arguably one of the major challenges facing healthcare professionals today, and a problem that is not doing to go away. This forum will explore issues related to the control of nosocomial infections, preparing for and managing pandemics and strategies for coping with major incidents involving biological agents.
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Blast Injury forum - Sadly, there is a growing body of expertise in this field. This forum is for practitioners to share some of the lessons learnt in recent mass casualty events and to promote a greater preparedness for the future.
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New technology forum - It is impossible to keep completely abreast of the latest technology. We have often heard of a new equipment and technology but have not had time or opportunity to look at – or it may not yet have appeared on our radar. This forum is for practitioners to share their experiences; their views and tips on new equipment and technology they have come across or worked with.
Industry members are also invited to ‘introduce’ us to their newest technology via this forum. It should not however, be advertising material but a short film that objectively outlines the functions and unique strengths of the equipment or device concerned. You can either submit a film that our faculty will review before it is shown on the site, or speak to us about arranging for a faculty member to review the product on camera and use the resulting film to introduce your product.
Contact us with your submissions or any questions about this forum.
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Innovation forum - Hospitals, clinical research departments and the minds of many healthcare professionals are full of good ideas with commercial potential – ideas that will only ever benefit anybody if that commercial potential is exploited. Sadly though few ever see the light of day because of lack of time or access to the right contacts, or because we are worried about credibility or confidentiality.
Ironically, industry spends a great deal of time and money trying to find new ideas and only manages to scratch the surface of the potential available. As well as clinical practitioners and researchers, Rockface membership includes people from industry and as such offers an excellent vehicle for bringing ideas together with the right people and resources to turn them into products for the clinic.
This forum is for Rockface members to submit a 90 – 180 second video clip presenting their idea to other members. It is not about discussing confidential technical detail (unless you are confident your ideas are protected by patent), but about whetting the appetite of potential partners so that you can meet and discuss things properly with the appropriate confidentiality agreements in place. To further assist, you may download a confidentiality agreement template here. Your submission will be reviewed by appropriate faculty members before being published on the site – and you will be given feedback if they feel it is not ready for publication.
To protect your ideas further, on joining Rockface, all members and faculty agree to abide by a code of confidentiality regarding all intellectual property that is on the site. Your material will also be time stamped when you film it and the faculty review adds an additional layer of confidence, both in terms of confirming that the ideas are yours and knowing that your ideas really do appear to have commercial potential. If you wish to submit an idea or have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Medical device and equipment users forum - None of us can afford the time we would like to for learning how to get the most out of the vast array of ever changing equipment we are now expected to use on a daily basis. If we do find time for a course, retaining what we have learnt until we need it – often months later or after being dragged out of bed at 0200 in the morning - can be challenging. This forum is designed to give members access to online medical equipment or device training as and when they need it. It is also a vehicle for equipment and device manufacturers to address the problems they face training a constantly changing user group.
If you are a medical device or equipment manufacturer and would like to post a training video on the Rockface site, or if you would like to talk to us about developing a training video with and for our members please get in touch.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the Rockface best practice forum or if you have any difficulties submitting material please contact us.
Rockface faculty services
All Rockface faculty members have demonstrated that they have leading expertise in a particular field. If you are invited to join the Rockface faculty you will receive free full-membership for the period that you are on the faculty. To remain a faculty member we ask that you are available to review at least 3 member submissions each year and are willing to present at a minimum of one Rockface event. We would also request that you are willing to answer up to 10 member questions following an event at which you have presented (See FAQ below). You will be paid a fee for speaking or chairing at an event and should you wish to initiate an event yourself, you will have access to the full Rockface infrastructure. Rockface is often approached with requests for speakers and experts in various fields. When such opportunities arise we ensure they are offered to our faculty members first.
Faculty FAQ
Full members are entitled to pose questions to faculty members regarding their material in the media library or presentations that they have delivered at Rockface events. These questions, and the answers, will be stored in the media library and made available to all full members. Before submitting a question, PLEASE check if the answer you are looking for is already in the library. If it is not there, send us your question and we will make sure it reaches the appropriate faculty member.
Rockface Shop
The Rockface Shop is available to all members for purchasing learning material and other products. Where logistically possible, full members are invited to promote and/or sell their medical (and non-medical) publications in the Rockface shop. In some cased this may involve a small administration fee. If you are a full member and would like to use this service please contact us.
Services for industry members and academic rigour
Rockface Medicine takes a pragmatic view about working with the healthcare industry. Healthcare provision would still be in the dark ages without them and their support for education helps keep prices down. However, academic rigour is central to the Rockface Medicine ethos. Our faculty are independent and do not receive any direct payment from industry for any material on this site. The only occasion where this might not be the case is if we have produced a training video on the use of a specific piece of equipment. All material on the site is subject to review by faculty members (including equipment training videos) and open to comment (positive and negative) by all members. This is essential in order to maintain academic rigour but also, we believe, in the best interests of our industry members and supporters. We are also in dialogue with the ABPI and work strictly within their guidelines.
Who can join?
Rockface is an international organization, with membership open to all healthcare professionals, allied professions and scientists involved in healthcare related research from anywhere in the world. We also welcome members from the healthcare and biopharmaceutical industries who wish to keep up-to-date with developments and opportunities in clinical practice. Please get in touch if you have any questions about membership.
Basic Membership
Basic Membership is free of charge. All you have to do is register in order to receive the following benefits:
- Access to the large range of free-to-view material in the Rockface Media Library
- Attend Rockface events
- Information and notification of forthcoming events
- Use of Rockface shop
Full Membership
Full membership costs £60 for 12 months and, in addition to basic membership benefits it entitles you to the following:
- Access to all material in the Rockface Media Library
- Opportunity to contribute material to the Media Library
- The chance to contribute to Rockface forums
- The opportunity to put questions to the Rockface faculty
- The chance to suggest themes for events and learning material
- Information and notification of forthcoming events
We also offer group rates for entire departments or organizations. Please contact us for details.
Concessionary Membership
Full membership is free of charge to the following groups:
- Healthcare professionals and academic researchers in developing countries.
- Healthcare workers for Medicin Sans Frontiers, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and other recognized charitable medical aid agencies
If you belong to one of these groups and would like to apply for free full-membership please contact us telling us who you work for or which country you are working in. If you are eligible, we will send you a voucher which you can use to register free of charge.
Please note. Rockface Medicine and the material on the Rockface website is not designed for patients and the general public and should not be used to make a diagnosis or to treat a patient by anybody who is not appropriately qualified.
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