Tweeting Gasmen

Episode 3 of the Gasnet podcast looks at Twitter, guided by our guest Dr Mike Blackburn from South Africa.

@blackburnmike

S01E03 Tweeting Gasmen

1. Main topic for this episode is Twitter for Anaesthetists with a guest presentation by Dr Mike Blackburn (@blackburnmike) from Johanasburg, South Africa. Mike is also present on many other social media including Google plus at https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MichaelBlackburn_1/about
2. Recorded live at the Australian Society of Anaesthetists National Scientific Meeting held on the Gold Coast, Australia in October 2014.
3. Third segment in the session “The Socially Enhanced Anaesthetist”.
4. Mike describes himself as: Father, amateur photographer, specialist anaesthesiologist in private practice in Johannesburg with professional interests in paediatric anaesthesia, ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia and novel methods of interaction and teaching.
5. He admits to a “slight Twitter addiction”.
6. Presentation notes:
   1. @blackburnmike has been active on Twitter since 2009
   2. Twitter can seem very quiet when you start but becomes more vibrant as you follow more people
   3. Some example uses for Anaesthetists include education, and participation in congres discussion, even if unable to attend the event.
   4. Conversation can be threaded via use of a ‘hashtag’. Many meetings and events have their own hashtag.
   5. Mike has been involved with #gasclass
      1. Scenario set by #gasclass organisers which evolves in realtime with input and comments from around the world
      2. Often leads to very ‘spirited’ discussion between specialties eg Anaesthetists and Emergency Medicine physicians discussing intubation!
   6. #FOAMed -free open access medical education
      1. Spontaneously evolved to a worldwide network FOAMed
   7. Twitter journal clubs
      1. Article details distributed in advance
      2. Discussion via twitter and a common hashtag eg #twitjc
7. Gasnet updates
   1. In Australia and New Zealand ANZCA fellows can claim CPD points for listening to these presentations, in a similar way to any online learning resource.
   2. To aid this process on the gasnet.tv website each blog post that accompanies each podcast episode now has a title called a CPD quiz. Many will be familiar with the concept. Answer a few simple questions relating to the podcast episode content (solutions usually included in the shownotes) and the webserver will generate an ‘attendance’ certificate and email it out to you as a PDF file.
8. Podcast production is now becoming a more streamlined pipeline though still having to fit around my own work schedule. Over coming months I will start looking for volunteers to start assisting with both content and production.
9. A reminder that Gasnet podcasts are now available worldwide for subscription from iTunes or the Apple native podcasts app. and also on Stitcher radio, particularly useful for the Android mobile users out there. Checkout the subscribe link on the website at www.gasnet.tv/subscribe which also includes instructions how to follow the gasnet social media announcements on all the usual websites including Google plus, Twitter and Facebook.
10. The gasnet podcast is released under a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives International license. Make copies and share with your friends. Just dont change it or sell it or use it in commercial products without permission from us. Presentations recorded during the Australian Society of Anaesthetists meeting are reproduced with the permission of the organisers.
11. In the next podcast episode we will have a look at what the big social media sites: Facebook, Google+ and linkedin have to offer anaesthetists