Ask Me Anything with Rob Rogers, MD, FACEP

Great question. And lots of answers. I would say the number one thing is passion for inspiring learners. Right up with that is enthusiasm for teaching and having the belief that you can change the world one learner at a time. Educating isn’t about lecturing, writing, podcasting, etc. It’s about inspiring others to greatness.

Learning how to say no is tough. Early on in my career I said yes to everything. But clearly you have to learn how to do it. When I transitioned to more “no” I asked mentors how to do it without hurting my career.

Good mentoring is #1. Motivation to be the best educator and affect the most learners

not enthusiastic. teaches for the wrong reasons. Great educators remember what it was like to be a learner (student/resident)

Small groups. Can be easy to run or a disaster. Best is to prep before you start and make sure you know what you are doing. Can have people read, watch SHORT 10 min videos beforehand (flip the class). Most skilled teachers who do small groups do very little talking.

Get as involved as humanly possible. Go to meetings. Get on social media (Twitter) and interact with educators. I met great friends and mentors on Twitter-Mike Cadogan, Chris Nickson, etc. I have met tons of people on Twitter who have somehow helped me and my career. Social media is key. It allows you to “hit the accelerator” on your career development

I think the most important step is in stepping back for a moment before teaching to ask yourself what stage the leaners is at. Biggest mistake I have seen made is in charging in and approaching teaching with a cookie cutter approach. Pause….and make sure you are teaching to the level of the learner. Most people don’t pause.

I love books. I admit it. But publishing paper books is a dinosaur looking for a tar pit. Digital is the way to go. Just look at MAtt Dawson and Mike Mallins Ultrasound Books–paper books are ok but personally my current and future efforts will be digital only

Less conference time and more distance learning. Not sure when we will wake up and realize that residents don’t need 5 hours of didactic material.

Fortunately it hasn’t happened to me, but be careful on social media. WHat you put out there is permanent. PERMANENT. SO be careful.

Develop a niche or specialty ares that makes you unique. Fellowship in something is the way to go. Make yourself marketable.

It’s ok to gracefully bow out of involvement. I think the best way to do this is a face to face meeting with the person or persons involved. Getting out of commitments is best done in person–you lose tone and meaning in email. Of course this isn’t always possible. If your involvement in something is taking too much time…you owe it to yourself and others to get out.

A true FOAMed curriculum. And I think we are already seeing it now. More and more organization.

It’s all about attitude and being a hard worker and true team member.

Hitting the send button on email before thinking things through. HUGE. If you are angry and your instinct says reply now….don’t do it.

It’s all about involvement. Meeting people. Showing people you are interested. Read everything there is to know about your area of interest. Keep up with FOAMed and all of the awesome things that are out there.

1. Having a “negative” stress test does not protect you from a future MI

I have so many I can’t even list them in all…:-)

Daily self talk that what I am doing does matter. How I teach and what I d
o to inspire does matter. The other thing is key: Surrounding myself with great people. I surround myself with the likes of Swami, Haney Mallemat, Salim Rezaie, and many more. Great ones make you want to be even better. They motivate you and make your daily affirmation that what you are doing matters more real.

Remember what it was like to be in their shoes. It’s that simple. Remember: they may very well be treating a family member of yours someday…so treat them with care. WHAT you teach and HOW you teach matters more than you will ever know.

If you wouldn’t want it posted on an interstate sign then don’t post it on Twitter. I now NO LONGER post any political comments/viewpoints, or rants on Twitter or Facebook. Just don’t do it. Plus, negative comments on Twitter don’t help anyone anyway. The world is already too negative. Add to the positive.

Depends on what your passion is. Find that and you may very well have answered your own question.