Family Medicine Rocks

Social Media Is Still About IRL

Mike Sevilla — Fri, 24 May 2013 06:04:09 +0000

It is 1 o'clock in the morning as I write this, and I am so energized by the meet up tonight, I just had to write about it. Thanks to my long time social media pals Emily Bennett (@crzegrl15) and Sean Dent (@IAmUnafraid) for the great discussion tonight. Most of the conversation I'll leave at the bar, but there were three themes that I wanted to share here:

What has happened to social media discussion? All three of us started around the same time blogging - meaning long form blogging, not the microblogging of twitter and facebook. Back then, success was about quality writing and commenting, and not about the number of twitter followers and facebook likes. As I have discussed previously with Meredith Gould, social media discussions have moved from the public forum to private direct messages. Are public social media discussions dead? Maybe not, with things now like google hangouts, podcast interviews, and twitter chats.

Social Media burnout happens. Back in the early and mid 2000s, to be a successful anonymous blogger, you had to be pretty transparent and honest in your story telling. Even though health care bloggers were not transparent with their real names, those bloggers shared sometimes pretty personal information & stories, which readers loved, but blog writers could not sustain, and many of those bloggers quit and blogs deleted. In today's social media world, marketing people say that you have to have a continuous stream of content. But, I have found social media sanity by taking occasional and intermittent social media breaks. Recognize that social media burnout happens, and instead of quitting, know when to pull back a little bit and not sharing everything you're doing.
Social Media Is Still About IRL (in real life). Back when I started blogging, I was able to make a real connection with the blog authors I was reading - mainly because the amount of sharing that was happening was fairly deep at that point. Today, it's very difficult for me to determine whether a blog post is a genuine story or a re-worked press release. People have noticed that when I'm at conferences or meetings, I do not tweet that much. This is because the way to make connections today is In Real Life (IRL) in the back halls of the conference room or in the hallways. For me, social media reinforces the in person conversations and connections I have with people - So it's still about In Real Life meetings for me.

I hope some of this makes sense. As I hope (and dream), I challenge you to leave a comment below to continue the conversation. But, I know what will happen. I will receive the limited comment of the tweet response, and a thumbs up like on facebook.. Maybe I am sound like Statler and Waldorf below from the muppets, an old guy wanting to go back to the past and how things were when social media was fresh and new. An old guy can dream, right? (It's 2am as I finish this post. Apologies if it sounds like a first draft, because it is lol)

Cleveland Meeting Of The Minds

Mike Sevilla — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:54:54 +0000

You're guilty of this, I know. On social media, how many times a week do you type in, "Hey twitter friends, we should meet up sometime and hang out." And, then, nothing happens, maybe for years....

In Cleveland, there will be a twitter meet up which has been years in the making. Ive known @Crzegrl15, who recently started blogging again, pretty much when I started in the social media game, and for years, we've been joking, "Hey we should head out for that beer sometime." Well, it will happen Thursday night...

Thanks to our pal @IAmUnafraid, the new graduate, for putting this meetup together. To check out the fun Thursday night, monitor our twitter feeds, including mine. It's going to be a good one...

Physician From Oklahoma City

Mike Sevilla — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:00:38 +0000

Very few physician stories out of Oklahoma City this week following the F5 tornadoes there. I'd like to change that. I hope you can join me on Thursday, May 23, 2013, for Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 305.

Dr. Rachel Franklin is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She lives with her family in the Oklahoma City area and we chatted about what it has been like there for the past few days. In an earlier blog post this week, I talked about how Dr. Franklin was live tweeting information from the ground in OKC just a few hours after the tornado.

I didn't know this, but Dr Franklin was living in the area there for the April 19, 1995 bombing of a federal building, the May 3, 1999 F5 tornado, and this week's May 20, 2013 F5 tornado. I can't even imagine being in the area of one of these events, but all three? Wow.

In the video above, I asked Dr. Franklin what people can do Right Now to help the people in her community. You can listen to our full interview on Thursday, May 23, 2013 for Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 305. Visit my podcast page for more information. Hope to see you for the show!

@DocForeman on #SMEM

Mike Sevilla — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:14:07 +0000

In watching the coverage of today's F5 tornado in the Oklahoma City area, I'm reminded by the Joplin, Missouri F5 tornado almost exactly two years ago on May 22, 2011.

In the video above our pal @DocForeman talks about how she used twitter following that Joplin tornado to try to get the word out and to coordinate emergency services (her section is 9 minutes and 25 seconds into the you tube video above). It is a moving story.

Here are a couple of important quotes from this talking about using social media in the emergency/disaster setting (#SMEM on twitter, aka, Social Media Emergency Management):

"You don't have to be a doctor to do this"
"The public (i.e. the normal citizen) should have guidelines on how to be helpful on twitter following an event.... Tell me the three things that people should know from first responders"

You'll see more tweets below that @DocForeman was sending out tonight. If you haven't already, also check out my previous post on how a local physician on the ground in the Oklahoma City area is also using twitter. Social Media and Emergency Management: I know there will be more stories like this one in the days to come...

Live Tweeting Following OKC Tornado

Mike Sevilla — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:52:25 +0000

As I write this, it is 8:42pm Eastern Time, and I've been following coverage on this F4 Tornado in the Oklahoma City area. Kudos to our pal Dr. Rachel Franklin, who is a Family Physician in the Oklahoma City area. She is live tweeting as I write what is happening on the ground right now. I was able to copy the initial tweets from her efforts below. I encourage you to follow her on twitter @YourFamilyDoc for more updates. Thanks Rachel for your efforts! I challenge the Family Medicine Community, and especially those in #FMRevolution to help share their story with retweets and offer assistance when/if needed.

World Family Doctors' Day 2013

Mike Sevilla — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:30:51 +0000

In 2010, in Cancun Mexico, the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) declared World Family Doctor Day. The logo above was conceptualized by a couple of physicians in the Philippines. According to their website...

The first World Family Doctor Day was celebrated on 19 May 2010. It has been taken up with enthusiasm around the world and has given us a chance to celebrate what we do to provide recognition to family doctors, to highlight important issues and the work we perform in supporting health care for all people in our local communities, our nations and around the world.

We have much to celebrate as governments around the world have really begun to realise the value of our specialty. In some countries there is work to do, and celebrating World Family Doctor Day will open up many opportunities to highlight the important contributions of family doctors.

This day creates an atmosphere of global solidarity among family doctors and it will be a positive and visible contribution of WONCA’s leadership and contribution to family medicine.

I admit that the only way I knew it was World Family Doctors' Day was checking my social media today. In my opinion, from an advocacy and public awareness point of view, the Family Medicine community lost another opportunity to share our story. Wouldn't it have been nice to coordinate a social media campaign among the Friends of Family Medicine (even internationally) to share why we (as Family Docs) believe that we give the world the best medical care. Oh well, maybe next year...

FamMedRocks 304 Wrap-up: Your Health Talk

Mike Sevilla — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:45:16 +0000

My thanks to the hosts of the Your Health Talk podcast for being my guests on Family Medicine Rocks Episode 304 recorded today. If you didn't already know, the hosts of the podcast are Second Year Medical Students in the Kansas City area. (How do they have time to do a podcast in the midst of their studying?)

We had a great discussion about why they applied to medical school in the first place, what it's like being a medical student these days, what are board exams for med students, and their social media backgrounds before they started the podcast.

It was really fun listening to them talk about the origins of the podcast. For the 2nd half of the show, I turned the show over to them, and they asked me questions. Thanks to our pal Dr. Neu for calling in close to the end of the show!

You can listen to the entire audio podcast below, or download here. In the video above, I asked them what they would do if a patient tried to friend them on Facebook. You'll want to see the answer in the video above. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast here, along with following me on twitter, facebook, youtube, and linked-in. Enjoy!

Jolie Spotlights Prevention

Mike Sevilla — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:53:13 +0000

Actress Angelina Jolie wrote a New York TImes Op-Ed this morning entitled, "My Medical Choice," in which she says she had a preventative double mastectomy because she has a breast cancer gene which puts her at higher risk for cancer.

I admit that I'm not a big fan of Angelina's movies, but, today, this gives me an opportunity to talk to my patients about the idea of preventative medicine. It's not just about breast cancer, but also about other aspects of cancer prevention (like lung cancer, colon cancer, and other types of cancer). In addition to cancer prevention, it's a chance to take a look at other aspects of people's health like cardiovascular risk prevention and even mental health topics.

News cycles are so quick these days, so it's important for physicians to take advantage of this opportunity of a celebrity in the news to talk about preventative medicine issues - not just breast cancer. Family Medicine focuses on the entire person and the entire family. That's why I love what I do!

FamMedRocks Ep303 Wrap-up

Mike Sevilla — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:37:07 +0000

During this most recent episode, I've been trying out some new audio equipment for a future project. So, we'll see what happens. I encourage you to check out Family Medicine Rocks Episode 303.

I'm very excited for next week's show in which I'll be interviewing the hosts of The Your Health Talk Podcast. These are medical students from the Kansas City area who write, produce, and direct these podcast episodes. This will be a Live Show at 11am on Thursday, May 16, 2013 on the Family Medicine Rocks podcast.

In addition on episode 303, I talk about a future podcast where I am the person being interviewed. I invite you to check out The Just Talking Podcast with host Chris. The podcast will be released later this month. Then, Chris will be a guest on my podcast and we'll give you a behind the scenes of our chat. That will be fun.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Family Medicine Rocks podcast on iTunes. You can also directly download Episode 303 right here. You can also listen in the player above. Also check me out on twitter, Facebook, youtube, and linked-in. Enjoy!

Wrap-up of #aafpncsc 2013: Blip or Trend?

Mike Sevilla — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:41:18 +0000

Last week was another successful Family Medicine Leadership meeting by the American Academy of Family Physicians. You can re-live the meeting through tweets via the AAFP storify account.

Even though I was not physically there, I got an idea of the energy, enthusiasm, and empowerment that was happening during the meeting. It happens every year. The question is "What happens now?"

Even though by the data, this was the highest attendance for this meeting ever, and the most candidates running the the prestigious New Physician on the AAFP BOD position ever, I'm still kind of skeptical if this momentum will carry on.

I've seen this too many times before. People get back home and are back in their usual routines and will forget the magic of this year's NCSC meeting. However, this is where social media can take over. We can continue to keep in touch and we can continue to encourage each other through twitter, facebook, and other platforms.

So, the question becomes, was 2013 NCSC a flash in the pan? A blip? A really great three day leadership meeting, and that's it? Or hopefully, the participants and the leadership will find a way to continue the great work that was started last week, and make this a leadership trend. Only time will tell....

FamMedRocks Ep302: NCSC/ALF 2013

Mike Sevilla — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:08:40 +0000

What a great day watching from thousands of miles away the Family Medicine Leadership meetings known as ALF/NCSC. I have written blog posts about this meeting in the past. To read a post from NCSC 2010, click here.

The day began with the Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 302. Thanks to Dr. Gerry Tolbert, Dr. Kim Yu, and Dr. Troy Feisinger for being guests on the podcast talking about this year's meeting. You can listen to the show in the player above, or, you can download mp3 episode here.

In addition to the audio file, I also recorded a video segment from the podcast which you will see below talking with Gerry, in which he reported some breaking news. You'll have to listen to the audio podcast or watch the you tube video below. Well played Gerry.

And, then for the rest of the day, I was tracking the meeting on twitter and facebook. Missed the whole day? No worries, because our pals at AAFP did the hard work of accumulating the tweets of the day and placing them on the storify platform. You can see the tweets in the window below or click here. Another graphic below shows some twitter data from a sample of 50 tweets reaching over 100k twitter accounts. Not bad from a small meeting.

What will happen on day two? This is when some real fun begins with the presentation and debate of resolutions along with listening to speeches and voting for candidates. Continue to keep track of these twitter hashtags for your enjoyment: #aafpncsc, #aafpalf, #FMRevolution

2013 AAFP NCSC/ALF Meetings

Mike Sevilla — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:47:52 +0000

For a long time, I have said that Family Medicine leadership is important. Tomorrow begins a huge Family Medicine leadership meeting in Kansas City. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend this year, but I have been there many times before.

Whether physicians know it or not, they are leaders. Unfortunately, "leadership training" per se, does not occur on a formal basis in college, medical school, or residency. I have learned through the years that there is a set of skills that need to be learned to communicate a message to your patients, the community, and especially, legislators.

It's always inspiring, invigorating, and empowering to be around friends and colleagues with similar interests and common goals. This synergy is needed to formulate and execute the ideas to change our broken health care system, and, frankly, to change the world.

The social media presence of this meeting continues to amaze me. In a previous post, there have been many youtube videos posted to help promote the meeting. In addition, I share the video above and the videos below to let you know that passionate Family Physicians are embracing digital communication to help spread the message.

Best wishes to all those attending the meetings this year - the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Leadership Forum and National Conference of Special Constituencies. Sorry I could not be there this year. But, I will feel like I'm there while monitoring social media using #aafpncsc, #aafpalf, #fmrevolution

2012 AAFP NCSC Revisited

Mike Sevilla — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:25:22 +0000

As NCSC 2013 starts tomorrow, it's always fun to look back at last year. Here are some videos of some highlights for me from last year's meeting. Enjoy!

Nebraska AFP Meeting

Mike Sevilla — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:52:12 +0000

Thanks again to my new friends at the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians meeting for the invitation to speak at their Annual Meeting about the topic of Social Media and Family Medicine. I've been doing these type of talks for Family Docs from coast to coast for about 2 years now, and I'm happy to report that I'm seeing less and less clueless looks from the audience.

The Family Medicine community, through the education efforts of many of my friends from #FMRevolution, is starting to come around as far as recognizing the importance of social media for patient education, marketing, and advocacy.

I intentionally did not tweet a lot or use facebook that much during sessions, because I found myself in a lot of "sidebar" conversations with people I sat next to. I made a lot of new Nebraska friends at the meeting, and I caught up with long time Family Medicine friends.

The strength of "in person" meetings is still the "in person" part. Already on twitter, just this weekend, I'm seeing Family Medicine meetings in Nebraska, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oregon, and, of course, Ohio.

I encourage my #FMRevolution friends to not only use social media this weekend, but don't forget to make those more important "in person" connections as well. We WILL spread the Family Medicine Revolution: One person at a time...

The Golden Rule Of Traveling

Mike Sevilla — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:48:31 +0000

I'm on my way to speak at the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians meeting about Social Media and Medicine. Unfortunately, Mother Nature got in the way yesterday with lots of volatile storms in my travel path, causing the delay and the canceling of flights across the country (including my flights).

Traveling is definitely an exercise in patience, especially with the gate agents who have to rebook your flight. I mean, hey, it's not their fault about plane mechanical problems and about bad weather in your region. Give them a break people! If you treat them with respect, you will receive that in return (and it doesn't hurt to share that on social media)

Which got me thinking: this is a great analogy for work and for life. I remember when I was a medical student and as a Family Medicine Intern/Resident. One of the top pieces of advice what this: Treat the nurses extra nice, and you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

During your intern year, there are times when you feel like a very clueless new doctor. People are turning to you for answers, and you may not have them. Sometimes the intern, in a moment of stress (which happens often), turns to the medical student to ask a question or to confirm a thought.

It is moments like this when nursing staff can really save you. When you're a new doctor, there is nothing like turning to experienced individuals to help you learn - whether a senior resident physician, an attending physician, or a long time nurse. And if you treat your colleagues with respect, especially nursing staff, you will be surprised with how much people go "above and beyond" to help you out. This happens at work and this happens in life as well.

Today, I'm starting this traveling exercise all over again. In checking The Weather Channel, severe storms are expected again today. And, when I finally get to Omaha, I'm expecting a 30 degree temperature drop from where I'm sitting right now, and snow (yes snow still in April). Keep track of my travels on twitter, and wish me luck!

Has Twitter Changed? Previewing FamMedRocks Ep300

Mike Sevilla — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:44:50 +0000

Remember when twitter was a great place to have conversations? I invite you to join me on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 12pm Eastern Time for Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 300. My guest will be Meredith Gould: Digital Strategist, Writer, Blogger, and Founder of the Church Social Media Chat (#ChSocM).

This landmark show was sparked by the Meredith's tweet above about two weeks ago: "Ah Twitter. I remember when public convo offered rich engagement among tweps wrestling with great questions. Now I get that via DM."

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I've been active on social media since 2006 (has it been that long already?), and I remember a time when blog posts regularly received dozens of comments back and forth. Then, when twitter first started, there were these great spontaneous group type discussions out there on topics. Scheduled twitter chats have kind of replaced that, but chats are structured, and leave little room for tangential/sidebar discussions.

When people now want to have a little bit deeper discussion, I receive the twitter/facebook direct message. People send me an e-mail, or even a text to my phone - and the conversation takes place off the "public" airwaves. But why?

In my opinion, here are reasons why "rich engagement" has gone private:

Political Correctness prevents deep analysis: We live in a world where people focus more on being offended than expressing a fully thought out opinion. Sometimes truth hurts, but people hesitate to go there in the public forum, because of the fear of being labelled a "hater." So, the discussion shifts to private messages.

This hyper-partisian world leaves little room for the "middle of the road" opinion: No matter what public opinion you express, whether it is on gay marriage or who will win the Final Four, people will attempt to paint you as some kind of extremist. How has the world evolved to this? No wonder people shift to the private message.

Being taken "out of context" is no longer the exception, it is the rule: This kind of goes along with the reasons above. To negate your argument or to deflate your point of view, people don't take all of your statements head-on, they are selective in the arguments they make. People pick out the statements they can easily defeat or label as "extreme" and then they reason the entire opinion is null and void.

I hope that even some of this makes sense. I'm looking forward to my live conversation with Meredith Gould on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 12pm Eastern Time on Family Medicine Rocks Podcast Episode 300. Hope you can join us!

Previewing AAFP NCSC 2013

Mike Sevilla — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:37:02 +0000

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!

Andy Ihnatko: "I'm A Narcissist In Private" HA!

Mike Sevilla — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:26:02 +0000

Andy Ihnatko is a tech journalist who is a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times and co-host of the MacBreak Weekly podcast. The interview above is a type of "up close and personal" chat that is an interesting comparison of a person's public persona versus the person behind the mask.

When I started in social media, it was important for me to be anonymous. But, then I realized that to make more of an impact, I had to be non-anonymous. In watching this interview above, I have learned that you can actually keep some things private, and there are ways to do that.

One of the cool things about Andy is that he's a guy who has done a lot of deep thinking about a lot of things, and that is apparent in the interview above when it comes to technology, staying private in social media, and being a writer.

I have always admired good writers, because of why they are good writers. Good writers are able to describe their point of view and opinion in ways that everyone can understand. Effective ways to communicate has always been fascinating to me.

The funniest quote in the interview was having to do with not exposing your entire life to social media. It's been talked about in the past that a lot of people in social media (including me) has to be a little bit of a narcissist to talk about things like what you had for breakfast. In the quote above, Andy does admit to be a narcissist, but only in private (around 28 minutes into the interview)

I apologize if this post seems boring, but I've been trying to get back into the habit of blog writing again. I remember when I started blogging. i wrote pretty much everyday. And it took me a while to get into a groove, and eventually, my writing became actually decent. Hopefully, I'll get there again. I just have to get back writing on a regular basis again...

Did Eric Topol Jump The Shark?

Mike Sevilla — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:36:31 +0000

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

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

Mike Sevilla — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:33:57 +0000

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!