During a recent solo dinner at a local restaurant a gentleman sat down next to me at the bar and put his phone between us. To my disgust, he had miserable phone hygiene. His screen was caked with a think layer of biomatter. I could only imagine - which was the problem. Knowing that a phone is ten times dirtier than a toilet seat, I moved. Sounds extreme, ... Continue Reading about Phone Hygiene – Technology as a Reflection of Ourselves
The Human Quest for a Single Measure of Health
Humans are simple creatures. We’re always looking for a way to reduce our condition to one measure. Check out James Hamblin’s latest Atlantic piece, The Power of One Push-up. It details the quest for the best single measure of health. It’s entertaining but maybe better suited for a 20th century audience. The problem is that our world is too complicated. Humans ... Continue Reading about The Human Quest for a Single Measure of Health
How Not to Teach Social Media
The early days of Twitter and Facebook were all about early adopters giving ‘social media talks.’ For many of us these amounted to cheerleading over shiny new objects - fast moving talks that subtly oversold social media. Conversions from non-believers to believers were less frequent than we liked. We told ourselves folks 'just didn't get it.' Speaking for myself, I ... Continue Reading about How Not to Teach Social Media
Endotracheal Intubation and MedTwitter’s Cultural Ignorance
This is amazing. Two Korean doctors publish a study in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine with the intent of demonstrating that woman are as good as men with regard to endotracheal intubation. Sounds crazy, right? But through the small, clouded American lens the suggestion of such an assertion is enough to draw blood. Which it did. Once ... Continue Reading about Endotracheal Intubation and MedTwitter’s Cultural Ignorance
OldMedTwitter – How Hashtags Impact #MedTwitter
As doctors grow in numbers on Twitter we tend to collect in silos based on ideology, etc. But know you’ve reached critical mass when we can curate tweets based on perceived generational differences among physicians. Check out #oldmedtwitter. Social media can be remarkably powerful. It can bring us together as well as pull us apart. Time will tell ... Continue Reading about OldMedTwitter – How Hashtags Impact #MedTwitter
Advice for Medical Graduates
Every year that physicians have used social media, we’ve been offering advice for medical graduates. Tips for surviving the unsurvivable are almost too numerous to follow on Twitter. They take the shape of a virtual Little Engine That Could. “I think you can. I think you can,” we tell them. But the reality that few of us ever like to disclose is that change ... Continue Reading about Advice for Medical Graduates