How true do you think this is.... (need to read 30 articles a day to keep current)

[Addy K]

Hi everyone,

 

So after my experiment with a patient the other day, I went to go talk to my head supervisor for the EKG requisition form. She's in rehab medicine, and as we were talking, she was telling me how so much has changed since she was in medical school. Then she went on to tell me, if you want to keep up in your field you should read 30 articles a day. She said she reads about 10 a day. So what do you think about this? I don't doubt what she says, but I mean thats kind of ridiculous isn't it... ?

 

Oh and on another, unrelated note, is shadowing a doctor while your in 'pre-med' worthwhile? (I don't see what you would gain from following around a doctor that you wouldn't if you were working or volunteering for one)

 

P.S if any of you go to UofT, there is a research day on Wednesday, November 29th, in the medical science building where my experiment, among others will be presented (2nd author: A. Khan - Arterial Stiffness in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury)

[w...b]

this is not related to the first part of your post.

 

 

i go to uoft and i was wondering how do you publish as a undergrad?

[bustylegs]

she was telling me how so much has changed since she was in medical school.

 

Being a grad student myself, I would agree with your supervisor that new knowlege is created at a rapid pace, especially with most high-impact journals made online these days. It is just incredicable the amount of knowlege that is available to everyone on a weekly basis.

 

Then she went on to tell me, if you want to keep up in your field you should read 30 articles a day. She said she reads about 10 a day.

 

Because new knowelge is available to all of us, it is not hard to imagine if you want to be at the top of your game, you will have to read up on stuff.

 

I wouldn't put a fixed number on the articles you have to read everyday, but I think it is a good idea to pubmed your field at least weekly and see what pops up.

 

I would say my supervisor reads at least 10 papers a day, but he has a very broad interest, including cancer biology, antibody production, hardcore immunology, cancer immunotherapy. In order to make sense of all these areas, he has to keep up with each individual field. Then again, he's crazy... that's why he's great at what he does.

 

MDs will have to keep up with the literature like PhDs do. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that if you want to be exellent at what you do, you simply have to put in the work.

 

Hope this helps!

[bioboy2007]

I've also realized that the more articles you read, the faster you are in understanding and going through them. I remember how it used to take me a good 45 minutes to read a medium-length article, but as I continued to learn more and more about a certain field, I could get through an article very quickly.

 

30 articles a day does sound pretty insane, but I have many professors who read at least a dozen each day to keep on top of their field. As bustylegs mentioned, it's part of the commitment to being an academic or knowledgeable clinician.

[Addy K]

this is not related to the first part of your post.

 

 

i go to uoft and i was wondering how do you publish as a undergrad?

 

Well I was lucky enough to get a good research position. It initially started off as volunteering, but now I get paid, which is great. Now how I started volunteering there was more luck than anything. I went onto the faculty of medicine website for UofT and e-mailed every doctor offering medical electives for med students to ask if I could volunteer (as they pay med students). I think out of 100 or so, only 10 got back to me. I interviewed and the doctor told me at the start that if the study I work on goes well, they will hopefully publish it. I was only in first year so I was surprised that I even got 10 responses, lol. Other strategies that also work are just to volunteer in a lab on campus and after some networking you can score youself a good position. Here's the link:

 

http://link.library.utoronto.ca/medicine/catalogue/

 

Oh, and thanks for the other replies. As my supervisor said, "you better love learning if you want to be a doctor".

[Kuantum]

I am in undergrad and I am not hardcore like some professors. However, until recently I didn't realize how much I liked Biochemistry until I took a physical chemistry course...never going there again. Anyways, I've been reading some articles lately and let me tell you, there is A LOT out there. To keep up, you can't search pubmed once a week, you have to go once a day. You should wake up in the morning, bust out your list of search words, and type them in everyday to keep up. To be at the top of your field, you need to be at the top of your game, most of the time, and that involves staying current by reading recent literature.

[Kirsteen]

She said she reads about 10 a day. So what do you think about this? I don't doubt what she says, but I mean thats kind of ridiculous isn't it... ?

Hi there,

 

Initially this sounded like quite a few articles to me, and then I started Internal Med Teams this week and was introduced to UpToDate. UTD certainly makes the 30-article daily quota a lot more doable when the articles are pre-sifted and amalgamated into one document.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Satsuma]

Up to Date IS pretty great!

 

Was your supervisor very involved in research. 30 articles does really sound like alot and I would be surprised if she actually did that on a regular basis. At least in any critical kind of way. Even in research though, I don`t know anybody who would read that many. Was it maybe meant as an exageration, to point out how much new information comes out but emphasize the challenge of keeping up with it? Skimming 10 a day wouldn`t be SO bad, but even then!

 

Also, in my experience new findings/treatments etc... often take some time before they become standards of clinical care.

 

So I am not sure I see the benefit or reading that much.

 

I think there is definitely alot of info out there, but you do have to learn to be selective of the things you read.

 

Sats