Information Overload

There’s no question that we are being inundated with record amounts of new information on a daily basis. The statistics about the internet and adoption of social media and technology are daunting. The recent “Social Media Revolution” video brings home the fact that online social media is not just a fad. It is revolutionizing the way people create and share information with everyone, not just their immediate circle of contacts.

In addition, Mary Meeker’s recent presentation for Morgan Stanley highlighted the speed with which broadband and mobile device adoption is sweeping the planet and changing how fast, how easily, and how mobile we are getting information. Note: the first half is mostly financial statistics; the discussion of mobile devices and social media starts about halfway in. Social media is providing the channel for expanding the amount of information that can be shared with an every-increasing number of people. Mobile devices are the conduit making that content available on demand, accessible 24-7, almost anywhere in the world.

So what does this all mean for doctors and health-care professionals? It means information overload. There is so much information being offered via so many different products and channels, that a normal human being with a normal schedule can’t keep up with it. What’s an incredibly busy health-care professional to do when it comes to vetting the various informational products, channels, devices, and platforms? How can you find out what's out there, or how well it works?

For the past several years, I’ve given a presentation at the ACCP’s annual CHEST meeting, titled “Using the Web For Research and Education”. My goal has been to broadly touch on effective online sites and tools for finding reliable medical information, whether it’s for personal education, professional improvement, or your own research and lectures. ACCP is kindly providing a home for my blog (It Ain’t Rocket Surgery ) with the goal of highlighting these types of online tools that I’ve typically highlighted in my annual CHEST meeting presentation, and each installments will (I hope) bring something to your attention that might make your life easier or help you find information faster or more efficiently. Your feedback will be crucial. Let us know if it’s useful to you, as well as what would be more useful to you so we can continue to improve and provide you with useful tools and information.

About the Author

Stephen Welch

Senior Vice President, Communications
Executive Editor, CHEST

This blog, "It Ain't Rocket Surgery" is intended to help busy health-care professionals find useful online and mobile resources that will enhance their self-education and professional research efforts, or point out important topics of discussion related to online information and content. The blog's title is a Yogi Berra style mash-up of two common phrases, "it ain't brain surgery" and "it ain't rocket science". I hope it will be casual, fun, insightful, and -- most of all -- educational.

You can follow me on Twitter. 

I currently serve ACCP as the Senior Vice President of Communications, as well as the Executive Editor of CHEST, the ACCP’s flagship journal. During my 15 years here, ACCP has focused on growing and developing the editorial, technological, and business aspects of the College. We are constantly striving to make the journal and other ACCP educational content as accessible and useful to clinicians as possible.

When not at work, I like to spend time scuba diving with sharks, collecting original comic book artwork, exploring the digital world, and searching for good BBQ.

Your feedback about the blog is always appreciated. So are tips on good BBQ joints.