The Obama Video and My CME Blog

Recently, someone edited Apple Computer's 1984 Super Bowl ad to promote candidacy of Barack Obama. The resulting video was posted on YouTube and viewed by millions, demonstrating the power of individuals who skillfully use technology to broadcast their message.



Communications technologies also facilitate the power of individuals to share information about CME. This blog being one example.

In some sense this is not new. CME professionals have long shared information to help one another with various common issues. However, technology now allows individuals to reach a wider audience than before. Imagine how less influential the Obama video would have been if it had been distributed only on film or videotape.

As technology amplifies the distribution of information, it can also amplify the distribution of errors. The controversy about errors in John Seigenthalter's Wikipedia entry is an example. And, I expect that we'll hear much more about risks of empowering individuals to publish on the Internet, such as the upcoming book, The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture. On the other hand, the publishing and sharing of information in the digital commons promotes collaboration and progress that wasn't previously possible. Some examples that I've encountered recently include the pilot project to improve the patent application process by posting applications for public comment and Kiva, an organization that uses the web to promote loans to businesses in developing countries.

Will posting personal opinions and observations about CME on the Internet promote confusion among newer members of the CME profession? Will the Internet degrade the quality of generally available medical information? I'd expect the opposite.

The more opinions available about a topic, the more those seeking information will be able to distinguish between the general consensus and divergent outlier views. Furthermore, in comparison with other media, the Internet allows information consumers to interact with information producers in ways not previously possible. Unlike printed materials, readers can quickly and easily ask for clarification, and authors can respond and, if necessary, make corrections.

Even without the Internet, CME professionals might sometimes receive incorrect opinions from their colleagues. And, the technologies that empower publishing by individuals also enhance the ability of accrediting organizations and professional societies (e.g., ACME, SACME, etc.) to disseminate official information and the consensus opinions of expert practitioners. Therefore, CME managers already need to be able to distinguish between the opinions of particular colleagues, the consensus of the professional community, and official standards. Applying this ability to web-based information shouldn't be too far a stretch, especially for professionals who deal with levels of evidence in their educational content.

There has been criticism about blogging in general, and blogging about CME in particular. While I don't agree with these views, I don't dismiss them without consideration. Writing My CME Blog allows me to collect and organize my thoughts, as well as share them with others. Thefore, I consider it both a communications medium and a personal knowledge management system. Still, the criticism I've encountered has prompted me to be more careful about clearly stating what is my opinion and not official guidance from ACCME or any other organization. I suppose some readers might miss "rants, raves, and ruminations" in the subtitle at the top of this page.

CME professionals and the doctors we serve are all members of value networks. By value networks, I mean that we exchange valuable information that contributes to the attainment of each other's goals and professional development. In my opinion, technologies that facilitate our information exchanges will ultimately strengthen these networks and improve their results. And, there is little reason to doubt that technology will continue to amplify our abilities to communicate, whether by blogging, posting videos to YouTube, or by other means. So perhaps a more useful question than whether or not there should be blogs about CME, is how can we harness these technologies to achieve our goals?