The clock hit 7pm. My thumb off the deadman switch on the dictaphone. The glow of the reading room workstation monitors reflected off my glasses. I squinted. A click of the mouse. A curious pause.
And then there it was. I saw…
Nothing. A worklist with zero unread exam.
Inbox zero, Epic Radiant variant.
Posted in Figure Stuff Out, Residency Productivity 'Hacks'
Tagged Getting Things Done, GTD, Inbox Zero, Productivity, Residency
Radiology residents have a massive volume of information to keep track of in the discipline, consisting of texts, images, and sometimes videos.
The variety of data type is made more complex by the data sources, from website clippings, PDF from PubMed, a slide from noon conference, or simply freehand typing.
To complicate matters, a resident also must keep abreast many sets of requirements, documentations, conferences, reimbursements, and academic projects.
How do you keep track of it all? Continue reading
This is the third of a series of three posts on open source software. The discussion is geared towards non-programmers who – more frequently than expected – becomes involved in an open-source project.
Open-source is a complex paradigm, but sometimes it is also thrown into an academic abstract or grant proposal without much thought. Previously I presented a basic description of open-source and discussed some common misconceptions about OS software.
If you were involved in an open-source project as the clinical expert (i.e. not the programmer), you are likely the team member best positioned to bridge this gap. This post focuses on how you are uniquely positioned to contribute. Continue reading
This TV commercial caught my attention a few days ago.
In the TV spot, the narrator outlines the number of images a radiologist must parse through to find an abnormality. To help, IBM will teach its Watson “to see.”
Therein lies the problem: Seeing is not enough. Continue reading
A signature is our handwritten imprint on a document for authenticity.
A signature is also a unique identifier for what is distinctly us, like DNA and fingerprint.
Your work, too, deserves a signature. It deserves a sign of authenticity, and if you are proud of that work, mark it yours. If the quality of the work is not to your par, then don’t put it out.
Just as importantly, the work is itself a signature. Innovation is as much about doing something new as it is doing something you. An easy and sobering way to decide is to first write down all the components of a project onto a list. Then, strike away all the parts that could be accomplished by someone else. Your team will always solve those problems. But if nothing is left, then you have learned that the project doesn’t need you.
That which remains, then, is uniquely you. It’s your value-added. Your signature.
The terminal destination of all products and services is commoditization. So that’s a simple answer, though one that’s not all that simple. The management journal Harvard Business Review dedicates several classic articles on the process of commoditization, including global competition, process modularization, and, simply, the natural resting place of a mature product.
So where does radiology sit in the natural growth process? More importantly – as junior residents – what have we gotten ourselves into?
Credit: http://bigideabiology.wikispaces.com/ED+2.C