“Publish or perish” has been the mantra of academic medicine for as long as can be recalled as the reputations of professors, physicians, and academic centers have hinged on contributions to peer-reviewed literature for years. Yet today’s information era is dominated by the rapid development of social media and online interactions, which have also resulted in some major advancements to print media as the majority of newspapers have now moved to an online format. Despite these changes in media, academic medicine — and its reliance on peer-reviewed journals — has lagged behind. Why has academic medicine not evolved to keep up with advances in social media? What are the unique opportunities and dangers associated with the greater adoption of social media in medicine?
Via Marie Ennis-O'Connor, Lionel Reichardt / le Pharmageek, Giuseppe Fattori