Previewing AAFP NCSC 2013

Family Medicine leadership is very important to me, as I have talked about on this website in the past. Later this month will be one of the most important Fam Med leadership meetings of the entire year: The National Conference of Special Constituencies organized by the American Academy of Family Physicians. This meeting will take place from April 25-27, 2013 in Kansas City.

In the videos below, you'll see exciting and fun promotions for this year's meeting. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend this year, but I know that I'll be able to share in the action through the (probable) twitter hashtag #aafpncsc. Shout out to all my friends headed out to NCSC 2013!

Did Eric Topol Jump The Shark?

Is it the goal of social media docs to go mainstream? On twitter yesterday and today, I kept seeing posts that rockstar Dr. Eric Topol from Scripps Health was going to be a guest on the Colbert Report. At first, I thought, "Well, that's cool." Then as I continued to think about it, I asked, "Will this appearance really move the needle at all? Did Eric Topol jump the shark?"

All the time, I get questions from docs starting out in social media, "Hey, Mike, how can I get more twitter followers? How can I get more people to visit my website? Do you know anyone in national TV to help get the word out about me?" Is getting popular to just get popular a real goal? That's not medicine. That's not making a difference for patients. That's celebrity.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm probably going to sound like a hypocrite here, but I think what Eric Topol is doing is great, and, of course, I would not turn down an invite on Colbert (not that I would ever get that opportunity).

But, for docs doing social media or who want to do social media, I remind you to not to get caught up in getting famous or being a celebrity. It won't happen overnight. Topol has been doing this type of education & media for a long time, and he deserves all the success he has. But for those of us who are not him, I remind you to remember what's  professionally important, and that's your patients. Focus on that and however you define success will be right around the corner.

Thanks to Hover & Squarespace

So, I've been in the midst of changing over my domain name company to Hover.com from this other company. And. man, it's been tough to do this thing myself. Sheesh.

Just wanted to give a big shout out both to Squarespace and to Hover customer service for tolerating my questions about how to switch domain companies and now to link to this Squarespace blog. I'll be changing over more domains to Hover. Thanks Squarespace & Hover!

Match Day 2013 Reflections

Match Day 2013 was two days ago, and I've had a couple days to reflect to come up with some kind of meaning, if anything, to those events. Here are some random thoughts.

Memories of my own Match Day: Even though it's been 15 years since my own Match Day, as a physician, I still have this excitement for the coming of this particular day. I can definitely relate to what these medical students are going through. Best of luck to all the future graduates!

Good day for Primary Care: Even though there were more US medical students matched in Family Medicine versus one year ago, there was a 3.4 percent decrease versus 2012. The AAFP President is hopeful, but states that "Our Work Is Far From Finished." I would agree with that assessment.

Kudos To @TheNRMP twitter account: Whomever is behind the NRMP twitter account is doing a great job. I checked them out even a few days before Match Day. I enjoyed how they responded to students and to organizations when tweeting about Match related activities. And on Match Day itself, the account was sending congratulations and encouraging social media collaborations. Well done!

The Last Fun Match Day on Social Media: I was in my office hours the afternoon of Match Day, and it was great to follow. To me, it felt like New Year's Eve/Day in that you could see when the medical schools were opening their Match Day envelopes, almost like by time zone. And then you would see the excitement on twitter, and see the pics that were being shared. Unfortunately, I think this will be the last year of that. As Match Day was winding down on twitter, I could see some corporations and medical industry organizations invading some of the hashtags - "Congratulations to those who matched, and don't forget about our medically related product." I predict that you'll see that more next year, and that's sad...

Family Medicine & Match Day 2013

Here's why you should listen to Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 298: My guest, medical student Michael B Moore, took his medical school entrance exam (MCAT) in Qatar in the middle east while serving in the US Army. Yes, really. Mike shares this story along with other pre-medical school stories during the first half of the podcast.

If you haven't figured it out, Mike is who you would call a non-traditional student. While in the Army, he was encouraged to go to Physician Assistant school. And, if you're wondering, yes, Mike shares his thoughts on the role of mid-level providers on the patient care team.

Other topics we discussed include why he chose an osteopathic (DO) medical school versus an allopathic (MD) medical school, the shortcomings of medical education, and his thoughts on the match process. Our last part of the conversation talks about geeky topics like his interest in NASA tweet ups and being a TedX organizer.

In the video above, Mike shares why he believes that Family Medicine needs to embrace Social Media. Following my chat with Mike, I share some thoughts of my own Match Day years ago.

Welcome to those of you who are visiting this website for the first time! In addition to listening to the entire audio podcast in the player below, you can also download the show here and listen anytime! I also encourage you to check out my other social media links like twitter, Facebook, itunes podcast link, linked-in, and youtube. Enjoy!

Toughest Job In Social Media

You never hear the words "pope" and "change agent" in the same sentence, until this week with the election of Pope Francis. And, it really got me thinking, "Can one man really exhibit change in a huge organization like the Catholic Church?" Of course, time will tell, but there are many in the media and at the grassroots who are hopeful that change will happen.

If you think about it, all of us are really like this new pope. How? One of the toughest jobs in advocacy is trying to exhibit change from within an organization. For us Social Media Evangelists, the toughest crowd to convince about social media are our own professional colleagues - right DocForeman? I mean, it's easy to be a speaker at a national meeting where I am "preaching to the choir." A lot of social media is about being in your own echo chamber where the people you're speaking to already buy into your ideas.

The real challenge, which sometimes makes you controversial, is to talk negatively about your own tribe in an attempt to exhibit change. This happened to me earlier this week when I wrote a previous post, in which I made less than positive comments about my own community. When you tell people what they want to hear, there are lots of twitter retweets, facebook share, blog comments, and e-mail messages. With my post, there was very little of that. The echo chamber didn't like it, and the silence was deafening.

I wish all the best to the new pope as he starts his new job. The toughest job in social media (as well as any change agent) is to take on your own community and your own tribe, to reform from within. It's not pretty and usually messy. But, if done right, your vision for change will come true.

Match Week 2013 & Social Media

In about half an hour, Match Week 2013 begins. What is this? This is the annual "Super Bowl" for medical schools in which senior medical students find out where they will be continuing their medical education after medical school graduation. Today, residency programs will find out if they filled out all of their slots for next year's intern class - a stressful day for residency programs.

This week is a Celebration for Medical Education, especially for medical schools and residency programs. It's also a week where medical schools will compete for the best Social Media marketing out there. That's where it is fun for me (and for you) to watch.

The video above is from the 2012 Match Day celebration from Eastern Virginia Medical School where it is like a Talent Show competition as students find out where they matched for residency. This is a crazy video! Match Day for the medical students is Friday. So, watch twitter and facebook for all the creative videos that will happen at the med school level. My guess is that the Harlem Shake will be the Flash Mob music of choice this year.

Best of luck to all the Medical Students and Residency programs out there as you being Match Week 2013. I hope all of you blow us away with your Social Media presentations this week!