A blog can help your career - and even if it doesn't, it's still good for you

From CNN:

There is strong evidence that people who use their blog as a career tool do better. In 2005, a Pew survey found that people who blog are generally higher earners. People who use social media end up finding jobs that are a better fit.

Changing your career and skipping entry-level positions can be easier if you have a blog.

Most importantly, a blog is a great platform for networking. Just look at this picture from the annual CME meeting Essentials of EM 2011.

A blog is a good way to meet other people who think like you do and who are in your field. It helps you to make real connections with them based on ideas and passions.

Social media use allows you to focus your connections on other top performers, since blogging about career topics probably self-selects for engaged and motivated people.

Social media in medicine: How to be a Twitter superstar and help your patients and your practice

The key concept is TIC, Two Interlocking Cycles:

- Cycle of Patient Education
- Cycle of Online Information and Physician Education

The two cycles work together as two interlocking cogwheels (TIC).



Cycle of Patient Education (click here to enlarge the image). An editable copy for your presentation is available at Google Docs.



Cycle of Online Information and Physician Education (click here to enlarge the image). An editable copy for your presentation is available at Google Docs. Feel free to use the images in your own presentations with credit to AllergyCases.org.



References:

Blog your way to a better career. CNN.

Social media in medicine: How to be a Twitter superstar and help your patients and your practice

Patients directed to online tools don't necessarily use them: 25% checked website vs. 42% read same material on paper. Am Medical News, 2012.

Comments from Twitter:

Julie Meadows-Keefe @esq140: Challenge is finding time.

The "Five Second Rule" doesn't work

In case you had any doubts, the "Five Second Rule" doesn't work, says Dr. Susan Rhem, an infectious disease specialist from the Cleveland Clinic:



A common superstition, the five-second rule states that food dropped on the ground will not be contaminated with bacteria if it is picked up within five seconds of being dropped (Wikipedia).

Comments from Twitter:

@alisha764: The "5 Second Rule" doesn't work: Food + Floor = Bacteria

Acute low back pain: What to do? What works and what doesn't?

Here is an excerpt from a recent review article in the official AFP journal American Family Physician:

Acute low back pain is one of the most common reasons for adults to see a physician. Most patients recover quickly with minimal treatment.

"Red flags"

Serious "red flags" include:

- significant trauma related to age (i.e., injury related to a fall from a height or motor vehicle crash in a young patient, or from a minor fall or heavy lifting in a patient with osteoporosis or possible osteoporosis)
- major or progressive motor or sensory deficit
- new-onset bowel or bladder incontinence or urinary retention
- loss of anal sphincter tone
- saddle anesthesia
- history of cancer metastatic to bone
- suspected spinal infection

Diagnosis

Without signs of serious pathology, imaging and laboratory testing often are not required.

Treatment

Patient education, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen, and muscle relaxants are beneficial.

Bed rest should be avoided, if possible.

Exercises directed by a physical therapist, such as the McKenzie method and spine stabilization exercises, may decrease recurrent pain.

Spinal manipulation and chiropractic techniques are no more effective than established medical treatments.

No substantial benefit has been shown with:

- oral steroids
- acupuncture
- massage
- traction
- lumbar supports
- regular exercise programs

References:

Diagnosis and treatment of acute low back pain. Casazza BA. Am Fam Physician. 2012 Feb 15;85(4):343-50.

Image source: Different regions (curvatures) of the vertebral column, Wikipedia, public domain.