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Staying Current: Social Media & Podcasts

Discover ways to keep up to date with the medical, nursing, and health care literature

X, formerly called Twitter

Many academic researchers and research groups use social media to alert their colleagues to research developments. X, formerly called Twitter is a microblogging service that is optimized for mobile devices. It is a great place to learn about and share research. You can:

  • Follow key researchers and professional organizations
  • Obtain news from your favorite journals
  • Reply to researchers and re-post links to articles 
  • Exchange ideas with others in your field

Not sure where to start? Search for a healthcare-related hashtag to see recent tweets and to find accounts to follow. A few hashtags to start with are #MedTwitter, #MedEd, and #NurseTwitter.

Podcasts

The rise of mobile devices has made finding and listening to informative, educational and entertaining content easy and ubiquitous. Similar to radio programming, podcasts are one way for listeners to use mobile devices to tune in for information and content. Podcasts also allow experts in a topic to share their knowledge with a wide and diverse audience. You can tune in on your own time, you have the freedom to listen when you want and how you want.

Most of the major medical journals now produce their own health podcasts and audio briefs. For example, the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine now produce audio briefs and summaries on the latest medical research and storytelling podcasts. 

Recommended Podcasts

Academic Medicine Podcast - from the journal Academic Medicine

Beyond the White Coat - from the Association of American Medical Colleges it covers issues around academic medical education

The Clinical Problem Solvers - new episodes each month focusing on clinical problem solving

The Curbsiders - a national network of students, residents, and clinician educators that "curbside" the experts to provide clinical pearls and practice changing knowledge.

Faculty Factory - "The mission is to build and support a community of leaders in faculty development..."

Harrison's Podclass - available via Access Medicine. Five to ten minute episodes feature "board-style case vignettes from the acclaimed Harrison's Self Assessment and Board Review."

Hot Topics in Graduate Medical Education - from the Journal of Graduate Medical Education

Making the Rounds - from the American Medical Association it includes discussions on topics that affect the lives of residents

S2D: the Symptom to Diagnosis Podcast - available via Access Medicine. A case based discussion of signs, symptoms, and diagnostic tests to improve clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice.

American College of Emergency Medicine - ACEP has a variety of podcasts including one with discussion of articles from the Annals of Emergency Medicine

American Family Physician Podcast - a discussion of the key evidence-based learning points from each issue of American Family Physician

Annals On Call - discussion and debate of a clinically influential article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine

Annals Latest Highlights - highlights of the latest issue of Annals of Internal Medicine

Cochrane Podcasts - delivers the latest evidence in five minutes

JAMA Surgery - interviews of authors of articles published in JAMA Surgery

NEJM - the Weekly Audio Summary offers a summary of what is new this week in NEJM, and NEJM Interviews provides discussions of current topics in medicine and health

Obstetrics & Gynecology: Editor's Picks & Perspectives - interviews of medical experts about articles published in Obstetrics & Gynecology

Pediatrics on Call - episodes on children's health care from the AAP

POEM of the Week - brief weekly podcast is a free component from Essential Evidence Plus.

Radiology RSNA - monthly episodes discussing new research and summaries from the journal Radiology

GINcast: The Gastrointestinal Nursing Podcast - hosted by the editor of Gastrointestinal Nursing, it is for nurses working in gastroenterology, hepatology, and stoma care

MedSurg Moments - the official podcast of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses

NP Pulse: The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner - from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, discussion around topics important to nurse practitioners

Oncology Nursing - weekly episodes from the Oncology Nursing Society on all aspects of oncology care

See You Now - developed in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association, it provides listeners access to conversations with nurses at the forefront of healthcare

Today in Nursing Leadership - from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, monthly conversations with experts featuring insights and innovations that drive change 

AMA Doc Talk - from the American Medical Association, podcasts include practical information to improve the practice of medicine for physicians

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - episodes cover reports from the MMWR and Emerging Infectious Diseases

Kaiser Health News - three podcasts from KHN, a national news organization that produces in-depth journalism on health care issues

Nature - new episodes each week from the world of science, and covers everything from astronomy to zoology

Science - produced by the journal Science, it includes discussions of science news

TED Talks Science and Medicine - scientists, doctors and medical researchers share their discoveries and visions

The Scholarly Kitchen - from the Society of Scholarly Publishing