2011 AAFP Orlando Prediction

Next week in Orlando, Florida will be the HUGE annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The beginning of the week will be the Congress of Delegates which is the important policy meeting, and the latter part of the week will be the education meeting called the Scientific Assembly. (Just as a personal plea, to keep things simple, I hope that they only use #aafp as the hashtag to keep things simple)

As all of you know, I'm a social media psuedo-pundit - especially for my beloved specialty of Family Medicine. I really had a huge plan for a series of blog posts this week to try to get my colleagues fired up and ready for a social media deluge during next week's meeting. Unfortunately, as usually happens, real life and work got in the way.

Going into this Orlando meeting, I have a bold prediction when it comes to social media. Four months ago, social media and Family Medicine really came together at the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies meeting. This was driven by a core group of Family Docs at that meeting. I wrote about it in the post "Why Family Medicine Needs Social Media." It seems like since then, social media has been gaining momentum in the Family Medicine commmunity.

As documented on this website, I have been graciously invited to speak about social media by many Family Medicine organizations. Organizations like the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine have announced a formal social media policy. State chapters like New Jersey, Texas, and Arizona have had educational and advocacy meetings live on the internet. The AAFP student/resident meeting used social media heavily. I have also been asked to give a social media session at the Orlando meeting. (sorry about the shameless plug; a previous version of my talk is in the video above)

Here's my prediction: With the help of my Family Medicine social media champions/friends, I predict that the 2011 AAFP Orlando meeting will be when social media will reach the mainstream of the Family Medicine landscape.

What? Huh? Mike, what the heck does that mean? You're sounding like a politician with that statement. (yeesh) Ok, let me explain it this way. Many in the Family Medicine community have an awareness of social media. I believe that this meeting will move people from a social media viewer to a social media participant. In this manner, more social media enthusiasts will be born and they will take this energy back to their state chapters and continue to spread the word there.

In the Family Medicine sphere, I feel that we are at the cusp of something really special. Communication is one of the strengths of Family Physicians. And, as docs become more comfortable using social media, they will come up with more creative ways to use this medium to spread the message of our specialty. This will be very important coming up in the advocacy realm for both the 2011 and 2012 election cycles, and in general for educating our patients and our communities.

Especially if you're a Family Physician, I hope you will join this challenge and help bring this prediction to reality. It is my belief and my hope that next week in Orlando, Florida will be something very special and will be the tipping point for Social Media in Family Medicine....

Update: Just after this was posted, I was reminded by my friend Kevin Bernstein. MD that the AAFP itself is going to be live video streaming some of the Congress of Delegates sessions. AAFP just posted the message last night - including specific dates & times of the live streaming. This is great for those AAFP members who will not be able to attend the policy meeting. Thanks AAFP! (see my prediction is already coming true LOL)

Paradocs Show: EMS World Expo 2011 Preview

In our latest Paradocs Show, Jeff and I try to make fun of people going to the EMS World Expo which starts this week in Las Vegas. It's not that we're bitter (well, maybe not). We wished that we could have partaken in the fun of the conference, but alas, not.

What you'll see in the video above, is that we actually hardly even talk about the conference. As usual, we started talking about the Vegas conference, and then we drift and talk about a variety of other topics. If you would like to help give our show some direction, feel free to e-mail us at PairODocs@Gmail.com. Enjoy!

ParadocsShow: Work/Life Balance

Thanks to the EMS social media gurus - Chris Montera & Jamie Davis - I'm part of a new podcast project with ER physician Dr. Jeff Myers called "Paradocs." This idea was born in Baltimore at the EMS today conference back in March 2011, when Jeff and I were guests on a podcast at that time. It was joked that we should do a podcast, and we're trying that out now.

Episode 1 was audio only and you can download here. Since then, we have done a total of four episodes (so far). It's really still in the "beta" stage, but we're learning our way. The video above is the fourth episode of the series, and we're trying a video version of the podcast as well. The topic of this episode is about the challenges of work/life balance - with special emphasis to med student and resident life - and also social media life and real life balance. At some point, the episodes will all be downloadable. But, for now, this episode I just threw up on you tube.

I'm really hoping to target this podcast toward medical students and residents out there who may be interested in topics from two guys who are past residency and can maybe give some perspective to those at the medical training part of education. We welcome any feedback that you may have - especially since we're still shaping the show at this point. Enjoy!

FamMedRocks Episode 15

Episode 15 was really fun. I think that I'm really starting to get my groove back as far as podcasting. Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback about the end of episode 14 where I shared a little story from the med school and residency days.

In the video above, I moved this kind of like "Blast From The Past" segment to the beginning of the show. I talked about an elderly couple I met during residency and how I got to know them during the course of my Family Medicine training.

Also during this show, I talked about last weekend's Ohio Academy of Family Physician meeting. I invite you to check out my Day One and Day Two posts. Also check out a blog post by Pat Jonas on his DrSynonymous Blog and his podcast as well.

If you enjoyed this podcast, I invite you to check out other episodes on my BlogTalkRadio page. Other videos can be found on my YouTube page. And, don't forget to "Like" the Facebook page for the podcast. Thanks, as always, for all of the support for me and for my projects. I really appreciate it! 

Right-click to download episode

#OhioAFP Meeting Day Two

Yesterday was a very busy day at the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians meeting. The morning sessions had to do with discusions about team care, the patient centered medical home, and practice transformation. Dr. Peter Anderson from Family Team Care in Virginia talked about how he transformed his practice to more of a team based approach. There was also a fascinating panel involving representatives of the State Medical Board, state nursing board, and state pharmacy board. 

The lunchtime session was about the current legislative status of bills in the state house and senate. I really get frustrated with the political process at times. The change of one word, or the absence of one word - this can change a bill entirely. And, the politics of how a bill gets done and/or negotiated - this is frustrating as well.

The annual dinner, awards ceremony, and instillation of officers is always a nice affair. I was elected back on the board of directors for the organization - so that was fun. In addition to the speeches that were given, the awards for the educator of the year and the Family Physician of the year were given. These stories are always inspirational. Recognition of great work is something that can always be done more. Too often when I come to these meetings, I hear the frustrations about how patient care can be done better and the hurdles that need to be cleared to make that happen.

My first board meeting will be this morning. It will be nice to see long time friends and to see how I can help the organization be an advocate for Family Medicine. Better communication with members, with legislators, and with the public - I always think that we can do this better. Telling the story of Family Medicine and getting people to better understand this - this will be the key to reaching our organizational goals. I believe social media is a great supplement to the current communication tools that are being used. My challenge will be to communicate this message to the organization and to its members.

#OhioAFP Meeting Day One

Today is the first day of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. I invite you to check out our schedule of events here. Day one's education program is highlighted by the topic of the Patient Centered Medical Home. The afternoon is the business session where members take up resolutions and policy making. The day is closed out with the dinner awards session and instillation of the orgaization's new officers. (Check out the video post above)

It's no secret that I'm the social media guy - Duh. For those of you on twitter, I invite you to follow the hashtag #OhioAFP today and tomorrow for updates. My goal is to get some of the members here signed up and to give all of you out there education pearls from the sessions along with updates from the meeting. I'm also going to capture pictures, video clips, and audio interviews to be used later.

Last night, there was an "informal gathering" in the hotel lounge. It was great to catch up with people like @blackweldermd and with other long time friends. I also got to meet some people who have come in from out of state to attend the meeting. These are usually officers of other Famiy Medicine state chapter organizations who visit our state meeting. It's always interesting seeing what's happening in different parts of the country.

My day opens with a meeting with the Nominating Committee. My name has been put up as a potential member of the Board of Directors of the OhioAFP. I was on the Board as a student and then as a resident. Following these years, I steped away from the OhioAFP for a while to explore other projects and opportunities. But now, for me, I think it's time to get back involved with the state organization.

For the first time in a long time, I'm fired up and excited to take part in this #OhioAFP meeting. In addition to talking & teaching social media, my goal is bring my enthusiasm and passion for Family Medicine advocacy to these meetings and get other people fired up as well. Let's do this and have a little fun in the process!

FamMedRocks Ep14 Wrap-up

Thanks to everyone who checked out the latest edition of the Family Medicine Rocks podcast. I talked about the recent chatter this week about doctors running late and some docs actually paying patients if they are late. I invite you to check out the previous post for the links to the articles that I talked about. I also talked about the upcoming meeting of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. We'll be tweeting out with the #OhioAFP hashtag. So, I invite you to check out twitter on August 6-7, 2011.

In the final moments of the podcast, I shared a story from my medical school days having to do with hospice and end of ilfe care. The video above captures the ending moments of the show. I also invite you to download the entire podcast at the link below. Thanks so much to the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and the CAFP resident/student section for tweeting out the show as well. I really appreciate it. Don't forget to "Like" the show's facebook page and check out other videos on my you tube page. Enjoy!

Right-click to download Episode 14 Here

FamMedRocks Ep14 Tonight

I really feel bad that I have slacked off on my regular podcast. But, I can tell you that the next exciting episode of the Family Medicine Rocks Podcast will be tonight, Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 9pm Eastern Time - Live on BlogTalkRadio. I'm also going to put a player on the site here which I believe will be live as well for you to tune into the show. (also check out the video promo above)

No guest this wk, just my commentary on the following:

• Why Do Doctors Run Late In The Office? - There as been a lot of discussion this week on this topic on twitter and other places. Check out this article from the New York Times and this article from CNN. I'm pretty upset by the article, but not what you think. Tune in!

• This Week In Social Media And Family Medicine - Check out my post from earlier this week. I'll also be talking about the upcoming meeting of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.

• Even though the debt ceiling debate is over, the long term ramifications may affect physicians and Medicare. Check out this article by American Medical News. If an agreement is not reached with the newly created Congress "supercommittee" - when it comes to long term spending cuts, Medicare will be cut and ultimately physician payment will be affected. And, oh, by the way, this new bill still does not address the sustained growth rate (SGR) of Medicare and the proposed scheduled payment cuts for the 2012 year.

Now, that seems like a full show. Who knows? Maybe I'll squeeze in more material, as time allows. As always, thanks so much for the support that all of you out there give me and give the show. I really appreciate it!

Generic Medications

The video above is a TV interview I did with local TV news on Thursday, July 28, 2011 talking about generic medications. Yes, generics are cheaper than their name brand counterparts. But, there are some things to think about when considering using generics. If you find the above information helpful, I invite you to check out my other TV interviews on general health topics at MikeSevilla.TV. Enjoy!

This Week in Family Med & Social Media

Now, don't take this the wrong way. This is in no way means I will make a weekly commentary on this subject. It was just a catchy type of title - Hehe. Anyway, the last two weekends say a lot of action in the social media space of Family Medicine meetings. Two weekends ago, I was at the Indiana chapter speaking about social media and there was also a talk at the Virginia chapter meeting.

This past weekend was the 2nd largest American Academy of Family Physicians meeting of the year - namely the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students. This took place in scorching hot Kansas City. During the 2010 meeting, there was very little action on twitter. But, the meeting's facebook page was pretty good, especially when it came to posting pictures from the huge social events of the meeting.

The 2011 meeting was very impressive to keep track of on twitter. I encourage you to check out the hashtag #aafpnc to review some key event of the meeting - including the election results of the resident and student elections. I wasn't able to attend the meeting, but I felt like I was there with the frequent twitter postings. The meeting's facebook page remained strong in posting pictures from the major social events.

And, according to this tweet, there was a proposal for a social media contest in that residents and students would produce social media project (like youtube video, or blog post, or podcast) for a prize. Personally, I really see that as far as scholarships to meetings, rather than write essays, I see residents and students doing things like producing videos to demonstrate a necessary skill of social media process - in the future.

The other major Family Medicine meeting took place in the scorching location of Dallas, Texas at the Texas Academy of Family Physicians meeting. This organization is definitely an early adopter when it comes to social media at the organizational level. Their website had great coverage of the meeting. But, perhaps the best item of social media was a live video stream of one of their sessions. I was at the New Jersey Chapter meeting when they did this as well. 

I have said this before, and I'll say it again - 2011 is THE year when it comes to social media in the Family Medicine Establishment. The largest AAFP meeting of the year, the Congress of Delegates and Scientific Assembly - this will be in September. And, I predict that the social media coverage there will be very good.

The next big event on my calendar will be my own state meeting - The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians All Member Assembly coming up this coming weekend. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm kind of the point man for social media at the meeting. And, my goal will be to continue to convince my Family Medicine colleagues that social media has value and we should learn how to use this powerful tool of communication and advocacy.