In 2014-15, we hosted a “How I Work Smarter” (HIWS) series, led by Dr. Ben Azan, focusing on the individual strategies of high-performing, successful emergency physicians. After the conclusion of the series, Ben went one step further and recruited a team which included Drs. Marilyn Innes, Brent Thoma, myself, Alex Van Duyvendyk, Zafrina Poonja, and Teresa Chan to conduct a thematic analysis, which was just published in Cureus [open access full text].1 Although the content is from 2014-15 and many of the featured contributors have moved institutions with different roles, the themes and tips remain salient and informative in today’s era of digital and cognitive overload in the clinical and non-clinical environments.
Conceptual Framework for the Thematic Analysis
A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted of the HIWS series content using a constructivist grounded theory approach. After coding 18 posts, thematic sufficiency was achieved, and the themes were summarized into a framework. Reading the highlighted quotes alone are worth a peek. You can also read each HIWS blog post in full using the links below.
Clinical Work | Non-Clinical Professional Work |
|---|---|
Clinical communication | Non-clinical communication |
Clinical efficiency | Non-clinical efficiency |
— | Location and environment |
Task management and prioritization | |
Tools and strategies for wellness | |
Motivators | |
HIWS Blog Contributors
A wide variety of strategies, tools, mindsets, and words of advice are summarized within these themes from the featured contributors. The HIWS authors are as follows (in chronological order):
- Michelle Lin, MD
- Victoria Brazil, MD
- Esther Choo, MD MPH
- Damian Roland, MD
- Natalie May, MBChB
- Salim Rezaie, MD
- Lainie Yarris, MD MCR
- Anand Swaminathan, MD MPH
- Ken Milne, MD
- Amal Mattu, MD
- Rob Mac Sweeney, MD
- Matt Dawson, MD RDMS
- Mike Mallin, MD RDMS
- Lauren Westafer, DO MPH
- Ryan Radecki, MD MS
- Scott Weingart, MD
- Rob Rogers, MD
- Teresa Chan, MD HBSc, BEd, FRCPC, MHPE
- Oliver Flower, MD
- Michael Bond, MD
- Mike Stone, MD
- Eve Purdy, MD
- Simon Carley, MD
- Chris Nickson, FACEM FCICM
- Megan Ranney, MD MPH
- Nicholas Genes, MD PhD
- Felix Ankel, MD
- Heather Murray, MD
- Judd Hollander, MD
- Christopher Doty, MD
- John Bailitz, MD
- Deborah Diercks, MD
- Haney Mallemat, MD
- Jesse Pines, MD, MBA, MSCE
- Rick Body, MB ChB, MRCSEd(A&E), FCEM, PhD
- Resa Lewiss, MD
- Minh Le Cong, MD
- Sam Ghali, MD
- Sean Fox, MD
- Ben Smith, MD
- Jeremy Faust, MD
- J. Scott Weiters, MD
- Gillian Schmitz, MD
- Reuben Strayer, MD
- Azita Hamadani, MD MPH MBA
- Dara Kass, MD
Read all of the installments in the series.
Reference
- 1.Azan B, Innes ME, Thoma B, et al. How I Work Smarter: A Qualitative Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Strategies for Clinical and Non-clinical Productivity. Cureus. April 2019. doi:10.7759/cureus.4499
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
@M_Lin
