Educational resources discussing lifestyle, public policy, and wellness relevant for all healthcare providers

How to Cite Videos, Podcasts, Apps, Media, and Blogs in a Publication or CV (AMA style 11th edition)

cite AMA 11th edition reference blog media podcast

As medical education podcasts, videos, and blogs continue to grow in popularity it is crucial that we cite them correctly, both in publications and on our CVs. We also must recognize the important contributions of media such as clinical photographs, radiology images, and ECGs. The American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style released its 11th edition in 2020. This blog post provides an update to our 2018 blog articles to reflect these changes.

Video Publications

Last Name First Initial. Video Title. Publication Title. Year of publication. Date accessed. URL.

Example:

Podcasts and Other Audio

Last Name First Initial. Podcast Title. Episode Title. Date Published. Date Accessed. URL.

Example:

Apps

App Title app. Version number. Creator/Publisher. Date of last update.

Example:

    • CorePendium app. Version 1.24.2. EM:RAP. Updated February 2024.

Photographs, ECGs, Radiology Images

These fall into the category of “other multimedia” in the AMA Manual of Style, and here is my best attempt to interpret this to clinical media.

For Media Used as a Supplement in a Publication:

Last Name First Initial. Media title. Date Published. Date Accessed. URL. Brief Description for: Article Title. Publication. DOI (if available).

Example:

For Media Without an Associated Publication:

This type of citation may be helpful if the image is used in multiple places within a publication, or if it is not tied to a particular publication. In the example below, there is no specified date of publication for the image.

Last Name First Initial. Media title. Date Published. Date Accessed. (if available). URL.

Example:

Blogs

Last Name First Initial. Article Title. Blog Title blog. Date Published. Date Accessed. URL.

Example:

References

  1. Iverson C, ed. American Medical Association manual of style: a guide for authors and editors. 11th ed. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Coaching for Faculty: The Secret to Unlocking Professional Success

coaching for academic faculty unlock professional success

Dr. Garcia is a freshly minted faculty member at Big Name University Medical Center. She’s excited to have finally finished residency and dive into her career as a full time (and fully paid) attending. After spending her first year acclimating to the new department and achieving board certification, Dr. Garcia finds herself at a bit of a crossroad. She likes teaching, but are not sure residency or medical student education leadership is for her. The same goes for clinical operations and research – interesting, but there hasn’t been any “a ha” moment to illuminate her calling. She heard that “saying yes” to opportunities is important, but after a year of “saying yes,” Dr. Garcia feels swamped: she is serving on the residency clinical competency committee, a department committee for managing boarding, and collaborating on a departmental research initiative. Despite this, she receives no salary support to lower her clinical time, and is starting to feel like there is no real forward progress in her career.

It ain’t easy being an attending

Attending life has its challenges.

New residency graduates suddenly have to adjust to the daunting responsibility of independent practice and meeting clinical performance metrics. Those who take the academic route face unclear promotion expectations, uncertainty about their niche, and a double-whammy of high clinical burden and a tacit expectation that you “prove” your worth as a teacher by taking on more tasks before being rewarded with salary support. Senior faculty face entirely different challenges; once-sharp clinical skills may have dulled over time, or the academic career hits a dead end – be it through stagnation, boredom, or waning interests. And as study after study tells us, everyone is susceptible to burnout. It should be no surprise that academic clinical educators are at high risk for burnout, stalled career advancement, and abandonment of academic medicine altogether [1, 2].

Systemic changes are undoubtedly needed for these system-wide issues. But what can Dr. Garcia – or you – do? Well, instead of passively waiting for Godot, you can seize the initiative and bend the arc of your career into alignment with your values, strengths, and passions, and, by extension, toward fulfillment. And that’s exactly the purpose of a coach.

A coach? Aren’t they for learners, or leaders, or long-jumpers?

Yes… and also for faculty just like you. Each of those groups has their own flavor of coaching (academic, executive/leadership, and performance, respectively). But in your case, professional development coaching might be just what the doctor ordered.

Let’s start with the obligatory definition of coaching. The International Coaching Federation defines a coach as partnering with clients:

“…in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.”

Personally, I like keeping it simple:

When you’re stuck in life, a coach is a great tool to help you get unstuck.

By working in partnership with you, they ask thought-provoking reflective questions; help you discover your core values and develop valuable personal insights; guide you to creating authentic and actionable goals; and help you be accountable to achieving those goals. This Journal of Graduate Medical Education article “Choosing When to Advise, Coach, or Mentor” [PDF] provides a succinct review [3].

But isn’t coach just another name for “mentor?”

In short, no.

Mentorship can be incredibly beneficial to one’s career, and many mentors use coaching skills while guiding their mentees. But mentorship differs from coaching in a number of ways.

Mentors are typically senior, have shared expertise in a content domain, and serve as a font of knowledge for their benefit. Unfortunately, evidence shows that many, if not most, faculty struggle to find, receive, or maintain satisfactory mentorship [4, 5].  What’s more, what happens when you’re more established? When you’re advanced in your career, correct answers are less clear, and there might not be any senior mentor to guide your hand.

Coaching, by comparison, starts from the premise that you are the world’s foremost expert on your own life, and that within you lies all the creativity and resourcefulness to overcome any challenge. Sometimes, though, we can’t see the forest from the trees. A coach helps you gain insight and illuminate the obstacles in your way. Once your perspective is clear, you can create a plan to succeed. A coach, then, acts as a partner (not a guide), helping you think, reflect, and act. Figure 1 is a helpful idea of how a coaching partnership will look, but the key difference from mentorship is that you are the source of all insight and action, not the coach.

coaching analysis flowchart

Figure 1: The Coaching Partnership

Clearly there can be overlap between these important academic relationships, but, at its core, coaching is distinguished by: [3, 6]

  1. Being driven by an agentic coachee that is ultimately responsible for choosing to take action
  2. Not requiring the coach to be in the same field as the coachee
  3. Not being centered around transfer of expertise from a more knowledgeable or experienced party to the recipient

So what should coaching be used for?

The most supportive data for coaching in medicine is for physician wellness and mitigating burnout [7]. Beyond that, evidence suggests that coaching is positively associated with:

  • Achievement of professional goals and personal empowerment [8]
  • Self-confidence [9]
  • Stress management [9]
  • Reflective capacity for interpersonal interactions [9]
  • Better teaching skill transfer [10]
  • Teacher identity development [10]
  • Better learning environment [10]
  • Faculty academic productivity [11]

The breadth of associated outcomes here show the multifunctional and flexible nature of coaching. When you’re stuck, a coach is a great way to help you get unstuck.

What should I look for in a coach?

Before jumping into details, it’s important to share 2 important and interrelated points.

  1. The bedrock that undergirds the work of coaching is the relationship between the coach and coachee. Thus, think of a finding a coach as akin to finding a partner. You wouldn’t settle down with the first person you go on a date with, right? Seek out multiple coaches, talk about your needs with them, and see which one is the best fit for you specifically. Similarly, successful coaching requires you, as the coachee, to feel psychologically safe with your coach. Internal coaches may be free and easy to access, but you may not feel comfortable being truly vulnerable with someone at your institution or, worse, to whom you report. Conversely, external coaches may provide complete anonymity and psychological safety, but they will require some kind of financial remuneration – be it from you, your CME funds, or your department/institution.
  2. There is very little regulation in the coaching world. You, after reading this article, could think this coaching thing sounds swell and launch a business tomorrow calling yourself a coach. In order to make sure you’re working with someone who has received specialized training or has sufficient coaching experience, ask for a certificate from a training program and/or accreditation by one of the governing bodies of coaching, like the International Coaching Federation or Center for Credentialing and Education.

The following table provides a brief guide of the responsibilities that can also help guide your search for a prospective coach:

CoachCoachee
Communication StrategyPose probative, open-ended questions to build professional rapport and stimulate coachee reflection.Provide answers stemming from open, genuine, vulnerable self-reflection.
Goal SettingEncourage effective coachee goal-setting practices (e.g., SMART, WOOP).Assume responsibility for crafting and monitoring progress on their own goals.
OwnershipKeep the coachee at the center of the experience, striving to help them arrive at their own answers whenever possible.Acknowledge ownership and control over the quality and outcome of the experience
MindsetPositive psychology:

  • Provide nonjudgmental empathy
  • Encourage learners to identify and engage in their strengths
  • View coachee with positive regard

Acknowledge when an issue is outside of their skillset (and recommend appropriate assistance).

Continuously strive to be more self-aware and accountable.

Be open to new advice, suggestions, or input that may not immediately align with existing perspectives.

Reframe struggle as an indicator of growth and not failure.

Professionalism
  • No conflict of interest between parties (e.g., assessment, advancement, allocation of resources)
  • Open, honest, respectful communication
  • Meeting punctuality and responsiveness to communication
  • Commitment to tasks that are collectively agreed upon during sessions
  • Maintenance of confidentiality

Ok, I’ll bite. How do I go find a coach?

Because coaching is still in an “early adoption” phase within medicine, you’ll have to be proactive to find a suitable coach. This short Journal of Graduate Medical Education article, Coaching for Clinician Educators [PDF] covers how to prepare for, find, and succeed with a coach [12]. Full disclosure: I am one of the authors, so take my recommendation under advisement!

With that aside, here are some general tips for finding a coach:

  1. Look internally: Many institutions are starting internal coaching programs. Ask around within your department to see if this is an option.
  2. Contact a coach training programs: There are numerous coaching programs that train professional coaches, possibly even at your home institution. Coach trainees are required to accrue many hours of practice, and often do so at a discount from market rates. This could be an excellent way to have a coach outside of your immediate orbit, but also not have to pay a significant amount.
  3. Look online: A casual internet search will connect you to any number of coaches. You can seek coaches who are emergency physicians, physicians of other specialties, or have no affiliation or background within healthcare. The more you look, the more options you’ll find.
  4. Ask around: Some of your colleagues may have used a coach, know a coach, or are themselves a coach, without you ever knowing.
  5. Remember your CME stipend: Check with your institution, but in most instances coaching is an acceptable form of CME or professional developmet expenditure.

The Takeaway

Coaching is one of many tools at your disposal to unlocking success in your career. It’s especially useful when you’re stuck, be it through gaining a new perspective, making a hard choice, or breaking the paralysis of analysis. Give it a try and see if it can help you!

References

  1. Chapman AB, Guay-Woodford LM. Nurturing passion in a time of academic climate change: the modern-day challenge of junior faculty development. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008;3(6):1878-1883. PMID 18945997
  2. Elster MJ, O’Sullivan PS, Muller-Juge V, et al. Does being a coach benefit clinician-educators? A mixed methods study of faculty self-efficacy, job satisfaction and burnout. Perspect Med Educ. 2022; 11(1):45-52. PMID 34406613
  3. Marcdante K, Simpson D. Choosing When to Advise, Coach, or Mentor. J Grad Med Educ. 2018; 10(2):227-228. PMID 29686766
  4. Jordan J, Coates WC, Clarke S, et al. The Uphill Battle of Performing Education Scholarship: Barriers Educators and Education Researchers Face. West J Emerg Med. 2018 May;19(3):619-629. PMID 29760865
  5. Bentley S, Stapleton SN, Moschella PC, et al. Barriers and Solutions to Advancing Emergency Medicine Simulation-based Research: A Call to Action. AEM Educ Train. 2019 Nov 27;4(Suppl 1):S130-S139. PMID 32072117
  6. Wolff M, Deiorio NM, Juve AM, et al. Beyond advising and mentoring: Competencies for coaching in medical education. Med Teach. 2021; 43(10):1210-1213. PMID 34314291
  7. Boet S, Etherington C, Dion PM, et al. Impact of coaching on physician wellness: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2023 Feb 7;18(2):e0281406. PMID 36749760
  8. Pearce MJ. Professional Development Coaching for Health Professions Graduate Faculty: A Pilot Implementation. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2022; 42(4):291-293. PMID 34966110
  9. McKnight R, Papanagnou D. Coaching junior faculty for the uncertainties of academic professional practice. Int J Med Educ. 2021;12:179-180. PMID 34592715
  10. Bajwa NM, De Grasset J, Audétat MC, et al. Training junior faculty to become clinical teachers: The value of personalized coaching. Med Teach. 2020; 42(6):663-672. PMID 32130055
  11. Schulte EE, Alderman E, Feldman J, et al. Using the “Coach Approach”: A Novel Peer Mentorship Program for Pediatric Faculty. Acad Pediatr. 2022;22(7):1257-1259. PMID 35381378
  12. Branzetti J, Love LM, Schulte EE. Coaching for Clinician Educators. J Grad Med Educ. 2023;15(2):261-262. PMID 37139204

Disclaimer: The author, Dr. Jeremy Branzetti, is the founder of Academic Educator Coaching and is a certified professional coach.

The Fall of FOAM

Fork in Road Disappearance of FOAM blog podcast

The landscape of emergency medicine and critical care (EM/CC) blogs and podcasts has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. The number of free, open-access EM/CC blogs and podcasts has plummeted. As reported by Lin and colleagues in JMIR Education (2022), these sites decreased in number from 183 in 2014 to just 109 this year– a drop of 40.1% [1].

via GIPHY

This comes after a period of rapid growth of these educational resources in the late 2000’s [2], with expectations that new sites would continue to come online. It is unclear when the combined number of EM/CC blogs and podcasts peaked, or how recently it declined.

Why do we care in these declining numbers?

The FOAM (free open-access medical education) movement has become an important component of EM curricula at many training programs. Online learning resources such as medical blogs and podcasts have all but replaced traditional textbooks, and research suggests that some trainees use these products as their primary study materials [3]. Therefore, the observed decrease in FOAM sites is alarming, as training programs and trainees have come to rely on their availability.

Featured paper

In our JMIR Medical Education paper, Lin et al. sought to identify active EM/CC blogs and podcasts during a 2-week period in May 2022. The authors found a total of 50 blogs, 25 podcasts, and 34 blogs + podcasts (n=109). The age of these FOAM sites ranged from 1-18 years and most were physician-led. Just over half had leadership teams of 5 or more individuals. Support was identified for approximately 75% of the sites and included advertisements, institutional sponsorship, or the sale of goods and services (though site access remained free).

The Christensen Theory of Disruptive Innovation may explain the recent decline in EM/CC blogs and podcasts. Using this lens, FOAM sites are considered ‘disruptors’ in medical education that quickly gained market share previously dominated by ‘incumbents’ such as medical textbooks, journals, and in-person conferences. Rather than cede their influence, incumbent organizations co-opted the disruptive innovation itself, in this case leveraging their assets to create their own online learning resources, blogs, and podcasts. As these incumbent offerings grew, there was less need for new, independent FOAM sites. Concurrently, FOAM sites continue to generate little-to-no revenue and academic value for the creators, making it difficult for the disruptors to challenge the market dominance of incumbents or to create its own unique, sustainable market space. We theorize that older sites likely succumbed to these financial and academic opportunity costs as well as high user expectations for design and functionality.

What is the future of FOAM?

Though EM/CC blogs and podcasts changed the landscape of medical education in fundamental ways, they will likely not endure as independent entities without new business models for sustainability. A recent study suggests that the costs of FOAM might be offset by advertising or other revenues [4]. Based on our observations of current practices on existing FOAM sites, this might include at least incorporating any/all of the following:

  1. Inserting advertisements
  2. Creating products for sale such as books, courses, swag, or consulting services
  3. Developing partnerships
  4. Soliciting for donations

In the meantime, we posit one of 3 potential futures of new and existing blogs and podcasts: hybridization, disappearance, and new-market independence.

future of foam christensen

  1. Hybridization strategy: Incumbents partner with or create their own blogs/podcasts. This loss of independence, which was part of the initial appeal of FOAM grassroots efforts, is traded for more stability and infrastructure. Already 44% of EM blogs are officially affiliated with a sponsoring institution.
  2. Continued disappearance of sites: Progressively fewer independent, free blogs/podcasts because of site demise, merging of sites, or conversion to paid subscription model
  3. Independent sustainability: Growth of independent, free blogs/podcasts as its own new-market endeavor, separate from the incumbent market space, only achievable with better return on investments (academically and financially) for bloggers/podcasters. Once FOAM efforts are no longer a major opportunity cost, educators may even be able to pivot their careers towards this primarily, rather than as a side project.

It remains to be seen whether FOAM can withstand market and academic pressures or whether it is destined to be assimilated by better-resourced incumbent organizations.

What is the future of ALiEM?

We hope to stick around and hope the rest of the FOAM community will evolve with us.

Comments?

Join the interesting discussion on Twitter. We are thrilled to bring this conversation to the forefront.

https://twitter.com/M_Lin/status/1582021848958500864?s=20&t=nBcJtrRvgML2QMRNnZkwwA

References

  1. Lin M, Phipps M, Yilmaz Y, Nash CJ, Gisondi MA, Chan TM. A Fork in the Road: Mapping the Paths of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Blogs and Podcasts. JMIR Medical Education. 2022 (preprint available: https://doi.org/10.2196/39946)
  2. Cadogan M, Thoma B, Chan TM, Lin M. Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM): The rise of emergency medicine and critical care blogs and podcasts (2002-2013). Emerg Med J. 2014;31(e1):e76-e77. doi:10.1136/emermed-2013-203502
  3. Branzetti J, Commissaris C, Croteau C, et al. The Best Laid Plans? A Qualitative Investigation of How Resident Physicians Plan Their Learning [published online ahead of print, 2022 May 24]. Acad Med. 2022; doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000004751
  4. Lee M, Hamilton D, Chan TM. Cost of free open-access medical education (FOAM): An economic analysis of the top 20 FOAM sites. AEM Educ Train. 2022;6(5):e10795. Published 2022 Sep 9. doi:10.1002/aet2.10795

Need your help: A master list of free EM and Critical Care blog and podcast sites

Calling all who read or listen to emergency medicine/critical care (EM/CC) blogs or podcasts. In 2014, we helped to publish the master inventory of free open-access medical education (FOAMed) resources spanning the period of 2002-2013 [1]. In that publication, we demonstrated an exponential rise of both blogs and podcasts with 141 blogs and 42 podcasts (total 183 sites). In 2019, the Life in the Fast Lane (LITFL) team identified 251 active sites. But where are we at now?

Why create an EM/CC master list of sites?

Most of the time, we encounter new resources by word-of-mouth or through Google search engines. There are, however, so many more quality sites that are available for teaching and learning. We aim to find them all. Are the numbers like 50 or more like 500? So far, we have reviewed the 2019 LITFL list and identified 119 and 9 still-active blog and podcast sites, respectively. But we likely have missed some, especially those sites launched after 2019.

Why the rush on updating the master list now?

Since 2014, we have prided ourselves in running the Approved Instructional Resources (AIR) Series, which identifies quality blog posts and podcast episodes, specifically to help residency programs award asynchronous learning credit to their residents [2]. Posts and episodes are identified from the top 50 sites, based on our validated Social Media Index (SMI) score [3] and are selected from a modified version of the 2019 LITFL list. The SMI formula incorporates the Alexa rank, which unfortunately just retired on May 1, 2022. So we are working towards an updated SMI score, using Ahref’s Domain Rating as well as new platform followerships that includes not only Twitter and Facebook but also Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Call to action: What sites did we miss?

We want to get as comprehensive a list as possible. If you don’t see a blog or podcast on these lists, fill out the Google form below! Thank you for your help.

Blogs

Podcasts

Submission Form

References

  1. Cadogan M, Thoma B, Chan TM, Lin M. Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM): the rise of emergency medicine and critical care blogs and podcasts (2002-2013). Emerg Med J. 2014;31(e1):e76-e77. doi:10.1136/emermed-2013-203502. PMID 24554447
  2. Lin M, Joshi N, Grock A, et al. Approved Instructional Resources Series: A National Initiative to Identify Quality Emergency Medicine Blog and Podcast Content for Resident Education. J Grad Med Educ. 2016;8(2):219-225. doi:10.4300/JGME-D-15-00388.1. PMID 27168891
  3. Thoma B, Sanders JL, Lin M, Paterson QS, Steeg J, Chan TM. The social media index: measuring the impact of emergency medicine and critical care websites. West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(2):242-249. doi:10.5811/westjem.2015.1.24860. PMID 25834664
By |2022-05-03T17:04:12-07:00May 4, 2022|Academic, Social Media & Tech|

The 1440 Doctor: Achieving Precision Focus – 3 Ways to Strengthen Your Attention Muscle

1440 doctor attention magnifying glass

If you’re like most people, your mind wanders. You may be sitting down to finish your charts, make that presentation (or write that blog) and your mind is off thinking about what you’re making for dinner or the fact that you need to call the plumber. Our minds wander and lose focus more often than we think. A study by Harvard psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert showed that our brains spend 46.9% of our waking hours in wandering mode, focusing on something other than the task at hand. That leaves only 53.1% of your attention going to what it’s actually supposed to [1]. We all know though the less attention you devote to a task, the more time it takes to complete it. So that hour it would take to finish your charts, just turned into two with your favorite Netflix show on.

Given the fact we are living in a distraction economy, with new technological advances vying for our attention on a daily basis, it is important as ever to talk about how we can maintain our focus. This is part 1 of a 3-part series on achieving precision focus. I use the word precision, since I want you to think about focus refined and adapted to you and your life, rather than the generalized concept. There are 3 ingredients that go into achieving precision focus: attention, deliberateness, and energy. In this post we are going to tackle attention and discuss 3 tips for strengthening your attention muscle so you can achieve precision focus. Stay tuned for future posts on making sure you are deliberate with the items you choose to focus on and how to boost your energy levels to help you achieve precision focus.

Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing the right things, deliberately and with intention.

One Thing

Many of us bask in the glory of “multitasking.” Checked off 10 emails while on that zoom call or responded to some Slack messages while at our kid’s baseball practice. Many of you likely already know this: multitasking is a myth. Dr. Eyal Ophir, a Stanford University neuroscientist, showed that our brains are simply not capable of focusing on 2 things at once. Rather our brain rapidly “task switches” its attention between the 2 items. This process of task switching causes performance to suffer, leaving you ultimately working less efficiently on both tasks. A Harvard Business Review article entitled “How (and Why) to Stop Multitasking” quoted a 40% loss in productivity when we attempt to multitask. Scientist Harold Pashler showed that when people do two cognitive tasks at once, their cognitive capacity can drop from that of an MBA to that of an 8-year-old [2, 3].

You can’t execute more than one conscious task at a time without impacting accuracy.

Are you looking to remember the tasks you’re working on?

If so, don’t divide your attention. A study by Madore et al showed that giving partial attention to your tasks limits the ability of the information to go from short-term to long-term memory. Subjects that attempted to multi-task had attention lapses and poor memory [4]. So if you want to remember the information from your department faculty meeting, don’t surf the web during the research updates.

My advice, stop doing it all and do ONE thing. How refreshing will it be to sit down and just concentrate on the task at hand? Here are some ways to try to single-task this week:

  • For this week’s Zoom meeting/lecture, don’t have your web browser open, don’t text, and don’t check email. Say “no” to any Zoom call you’re not willing to single-task for. The partial attention you are giving to both tasks is not worth your time.
  • Single-task your deep work this week. This week when sitting down to do deep work, have only ONE tab/app open on your computer for the one task you are working on.
  • For your next conversation with a friend or family member, be intentional about single-tasking conversations with a family/friend. Listen to them, and soak in the conversation. No phone, no doing the dishes, just be deliberate in listening to what they have to say.

You sit down to do deep work, and your phone lights up with a text message from a friend. Picking up your phone, you see you also have a new email notification. 20 minutes later you are surfing Twitter and wondering how you got here. While technology has had considerable benefits in our lives, it’s also made it so much easier to procrastinate. Attention is a currency, and we don’t have unlimited amounts. 

Combat distractions and improve your attention by incorporating a “startup” ritual into your workday.

Do the 3 D’s:

  • Declutter. Our brains don’t like disorganization. This is important not only for your physical environment, but your digital environment too. Clean off your desk and delete icons cluttering your desktop. 
  • Do not disturb. Make sure your phone and computer are on “do not disturb.” Put your phone out of your visual space. Put it at least 20 seconds away to really stop temptation. Go to your email and take all accounts offline so you’re not tempted to check your email.
  • Design. Look over your planned design for the day. By reviewing what you intend to focus on, you will be less likely to get distracted.

I have a meditation confession. It took me some time to be convinced to try meditating. After reading countless attestations of the benefits of meditation, I gave it a try. The benefits of meditation go beyond reducing stress, generating kindness, and improving sleep. Mindfulness meditation affects various psychological outcomes. It can not only improve your cognitive performance but also enhance your attention. A meta-analysis done by Ofir et al., looked at 27 studies on mindfulness based interventions and found that meditation can reliably enhance attention and executive control [5].

You may think you don’t have the time to meditate. Your schedule is already so busy! Studies show that even a small “dose” of meditation has benefits. Moore et al. asked meditation-naive participants to meditate daily for 10 minutes. The results suggested that mindfulness meditation can lead to improved self-regulation of attention [6]. Basso et al. studied non-experienced meditators and found that at 8 weeks, 13-minute daily meditation decreased negative mood state, enhanced attention, increased working memory, and decreased anxiety [7].

Don’t know where to start? Check out the free app Insight Timer. I also enjoy Headspace (also check out their amazing “Sleepcasts” that not only help your drift off to dreamland but also feature a “Nighttime SOS” section that provides guided meditations if you wake up in the middle of the night).

Summary Action items

  1. Try out single-tasking this week, be it a conversation with a friend or your next Zoom meeting. Do ONE thing and stop living a life of partial attention.
  2. Read my 3 Tips for Combating Distractions while Working From Home blog on preventing distractions. Start your day with the 3 D “startup” ritual every day.
  3. Try 10 minutes of meditation one day this week. Download the Insight timer (free) and pick one to do.

 

References

  1. Killingsworth M, Gilbert D, A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind. Science. 2010; 330, 932. DOI: 10.1126/science.1192439
  2. Rock D. Your Brain at Work. 2nd Edition. Harper Business. 2020.
  3. Pashler H. Dual-task interference in simple tasks: Data and theory. Psychological Bulletin. 1994; 116(2), 220–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.2.220
  4. Madore K, Khazenzon A, Backes C, et al. Memory failure predicted by attention lapsing and media multitasking. Nature. 2020; 587, 87–91. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2870-z
  5. Yakobi O, Smilek D, Danckert J. The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Attention, Executive Control and Working Memory in Healthy Adults: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Cogn Ther Res. 2021;45, 543–560. https://doi-org.laneproxy.stanford.edu/10.1007/s10608-020-10177-2
  6. Moore A, Gruber T, Derose J, Malinowski P. Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012; 6(18). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00018
  7. Basso J, McHale A, Ende V, Oberlin D, Suzuki W. Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. Behav Brain Res. 2019; 356:208-220. PMID 30153464.

 

 

As physicians we are managing many different roles in our lives: academician, researcher, clinical provider, spouse, parent, just to name a few. Despite our many roles, the amount of time we have in a day to complete the tasks of each role remains the same: 1,440 minutes. Is how you’re spending your 1,440 minutes in a day the way you want to spend them? By assessing your priorities, practicing time saving tips and being proactive and not reactive you can live the balanced life you’ve dreamt of. There are only 1440 minutes in a day. Are you utilizing them well?

The 1440 Doctor series, originally launched on the Medutopia site, is authored by efficiency guru, Dr. Jennifer Kanapicki.

 

By |2022-05-08T21:28:49-07:00Apr 27, 2022|1440 Doctor, Life|

Dear emergency physicians: We see you

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed incredible stress and strain on the personal work lives of emergency physicians. We have endured these almost 2 years of misinformation, PPE shortages, fear, frustration, grief, and death. So much going on in the world politically and socioeconomically, we at ALiEM wanted to share a message that WE SEE YOU. We’re with you, and we’re in this together.

Credits

Thank you for the tireless work on this video by animator Spencer Evans, who is a soon-to-be-emergency physician attending medical school currently at the University of Colorado. Also thanks to the entire ALiEM team for contributing to the message and storyboard, especially Drs. Al’ai Alvarez, Andy Little, Carl Preiksaitis, Chris Belcher, Christian Rose, Felix Ankel, Jason Woods, and Teresa Chan.

How I Work Smarter: Simiao Li-Sauerwine, MD

One word that best describes how you work?

Efficiently!

Current mobile device

iPhone 12

Computer

MacBook Air

What is something you are working on now?

I’m working on a research study examining the impact of EM faculty demographics on learner evaluations.

How did you come up with this Idea/Project?

I’ve always been interested in the impact of implicit bias on physician professional development and advancement. We use learner evaluations of attendings for promotion, for compensation, for recognition with departmental awards. So, I was interested to know how the demographics of a faculty member might impact a resident’s expectations of how they teach at the bedside and on shift. Do they impact those metrics that affect advancement?

What’s your office workspace setup like?

My office in the Department of EM at OSU is right across from our Program Managers – very convenient for quick questions and discussions! I have a PC but often also bring my laptop for a centralized work machine. I have a French press with coffee and tea and mugs so that folks can get a caffeine fix when they stop by. I also make sure to have snacks available for quick nutrition between meetings.

My home setup is my MacBook Air on a laptop stand. About a year into the pandemic as I was continuing to work from home, I purchased the stand and it’s been a game-changer! Less neck strain and better angles for Zoom :). I usually work on the couch in our home office or wherever I can find a quiet space for deep work.

What’s your best time-saving tip in the office or home?

I have no magical time-saving tips but I keep an aggressively up-to-date to-do list which I re-prioritize every day. If it’s not on paper (or on my Notes app), it tends to fall off my radar. So everything gets written down.

What’s your best time-saving tip regarding email management?

Triage your email. I either glance at it, respond if necessary, and move on, or flag the email if it requires more thought or an in-depth response. Then, when I have blocks of time to sit down, the flagged emails become their own TO DO list. I try to keep this down to less than one page.

What apps do you use to keep yourself organized?

The Reminders app is nice because I can sync it across all my Apple devices. I use this primarily for groceries and personal TO-DOs. I use Notes for work-related tasks; each line is a deadline for a task (either real or self-imposed) with a title and descriptor.

How do you stay up to date with resources?

I go to our resident conference every single week – it’s a privilege to continue to learn. Free knowledge! Who doesn’t love that?

What’s your best time-saving tip in the ED?

Save your teaching until after you’ve seen a patient, so you can focus on discussing the most relevant and high yield educational pearls.

ED charting: Macros or no macros?

No macros! It takes time to click through. I use dot phrases and change the text – it goes much quicker.

Advice

  • What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about work, life, or being efficient?

    Choose your projects based on 1. Are you passionate about the topic? 2. Are you really excited to work with the people involved? and 3. Will it build your dossier for promotion? Hitting one is great, two is better, and ideally all three! Wise words from Jorge Fernandez that have guided my junior faculty years.

  • What advice would you give other doctors who want to get started, or who are just starting out?

    • Find your passion, and academic products will follow.
    • You are entitled to mentorship from anyone and everyone – don’t be afraid to ask for it.
    • Your personal brand is important – are you solutions-oriented, do you get things done, are you timely.
    • Work time is work time, and make it count – but protect your non-shift weekends and evenings for family and the stuff that matters.
  • Is there anything else you’d like to add that might be interesting to readers?

    I am an avid foodie who loves to read up on local and regional specialties – so if you find me at a conference, ask me where to eat!

Read other How I Work Smarter posts, sharing efficiency tips and life advice.

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