Monday, January 31, 2011

Can OTs afford NOT to engage in social media?

While I know my use of tweeting, blogging, and Facebook is nascent compared to those in other fields, I am always struck by how the representation of the OT community is still relatively small in the world of social media. There are certainly individual OTs who are effectively using blog sites, Twitter, and other sites to convey information about their work and experience in OT. Even our professional association such as AOTA and BAOTCOT are increasingly on Facebook and Twitter. But I would still expect that OTs use of social media as a profession lags behind many others. I have often wondered why this is, because for a profession that often cites "lack of public awareness" as one of its challenges, the electronic world of social media seems full of potential. When I read Kevin Levin's post http://cwmemory.com/2010/09/19/can-you-afford-not-to-use-social-media/ urging teachers to consider the use of social media, it really resonated with me in thinking about OT and social media. He said if nothing else, social media enables educators to build an audience. That is EXACTLY what OT needs - a way to build an audience!!!! OTs have so much to contribute to the public sphere - a truly unique perspective about participation in meaningful occupations, fostering typical development in children, life transitions for patients and families, aging in place, caregiver issues, community participation, accessibility of community events...just to name a few! Understandably, OTs may be concerned about issues related to anonymity in using social media. But as we all build more robust digital lives, I think the issues of anonymity is less of a concern. However, it is important to be mindful of mixing completely personal information with professional information on the same site. Just as in all face to face interactions, it is critical to maintain anonymity of patients and be cautious when referring to any specific case or person. And certainly as health care professionals, there is a definite responsibility to only write or comment about things that are in the scope of practice for OT and generally applicable to the public. Kevin Pho, a leading physician in the arena of social media, posted theses strategies on his blog site for health care professionals interested in social media. http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/01/simple-social-media-plan-health-care-professional.html Given the possbilities afforded with effective use of social media and OTs ongoing need to build public awareness all that OT has to offer, the question that is becoming increasingly vital is...can OTs afford NOT to engage in social media? What do you think?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Publishing Purgatory - R&R

I recognized the name of the sender of the email. Anticipation built as I prepared to open the message....was the editor of the journal to which I had submitted one of my first articles going to tell me that it was the best submission they had received this year or that it was the worst one they had ever received?!?!?! For a moment, it almost felt as if my potential to succeed in an academic career hinged on this one message.

Click........................

Dr. Piernik-Yoder:

We sincerely appreciate your recent submission to our esteemed journal. Yada Yada Yada.....Three reviewers have taken time to review your work and have rendered an opinion on your work. Yada Yada Yada............We would like to infrom you that........................[Here it comes!!!! I can hardly bear it!!!!!] your submission will require further revision.

____ Best submission (ever!!!). You should be offered tenure by your instituion on the spot!!!

_X__ Revise and resubmit. You have earned a ticket to the purgutory of publishing!!

____ Worst submission (ever!!!). Are you sure you spent years in graduate school?

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Ok.....now what I am supposed to do?!?! I was done with this article. It was off of my "To DO" list. I was moving on to other things. Now I have to work on it...again!?!? I will admit that this process feels a bit like graduate school all over again: work really hard on something and hold your breath until you are told what change should be made.

Not that I was REALLY expecting it to get accepted without any changes, but what do I do with the reviewers comments? One said add more in this section, the other two said that section was good. So can I take the two out three vote and leave it alone? Probably not...

I feel as if this is the start of an ongoing process....a world of academic limbo....Revise and Resubmit...could it be Publishing Purgatory???