This book is about the contemporary use of personal technology to accomplish many of the nonpatient care tasks of an academic physician. It was written by three radiologists in academic practice. The lead author, Michael Richardson, is a professor at the University of Washington who has been writing about computer applications in radiology for decades; the other authors are more junior faculty members who both trained under Richardson. They have all been lecturing on cool technologies at recent national meetings. I purchased the book from Amazon.com’s Kindle Store and read it on my iPad. However, it is available from other vendors and may be read on other platforms.
The book is divided into seven parts. In the first part, “Image Acquisition & Manipulation,” the first chapter has a straightforward explanation of digital image formats and properties when using a digital camera. The second chapter explains the use of stock photography to enhance presentations and publications and where to find them inexpensively (one hint: do a Google Images search that includes “.gov websites” along with the desired topic). The second part, “Ninja Techniques and Photoshop & Illustrator,” has four chapters that go well beyond the cropping, rotation, window and level, and format changes that many of us are familiar with. The chapter on layers and smart objects provide the details of how to make a suboptimal radiograph look perfect. For example, it tells you how to show the bones and the soft tissues in optimal grayscale on the same image. Other chapters describe how to combine multiple exposures, how to make pseudo line art, and how to make line drawings (that aren’t too embarrassing; one hint: use vector graphics with Bezier curves—easier than it sounds).
The third part describes do-it-yourself options for electronic publication, including e-book publishing, podcasting and enhanced podcasting, and vodcasting and enhanced vodcasting. A podcast is an audio-on-demand recording for delivery on the iPod, an enhanced podcast is a podcast that includes integrated images synchronized with the audio; a vodcast is a video podcast, and an enhanced vodcast is a vodcast with integrated still images and audio. In part four are three chapters on presentations and presentation technology. The first of these chapters describes Richardson’s guide to creating and delivering excellent live presentations. He begins by highlighting common errors with an “RSNA Bingo Card,” in which each square has a presentation misstep such as “images too small” or “speaks in monotone.” If the speaker commits five missteps in a row (up or down) it’s “Bingo!” He then proceeds to explain how to do it better, including how to deal with stage fright, using vocal dynamics, understanding the implications of dual-coding theory, and avoiding the spawn of Satan (bullet points). There is quite bit of humor in this chapter! The other chapters in this part show the reader how to do screencasting and how to use audience response systems. In Part 5, research tools are covered in chapters on cool web research tools and RSS. Web research tools described include various reference management software programs to help you write papers, and Scholarometer, a tool that lets you find out how well you are doing in the world of academic publishing (or as the author explains it, “an automated tool that uses Google Scholar to measure the size of one’s academic genitalia” [sic]). Part 6 has three chapters on infrastructure, including backup, internet access in difficult areas, and file sharing. The seventh and final part has chapters on essential iPhone/iPad apps for academics and how to learn new computer skills on line. With rapid changes in this area occurring almost daily, one hopes the book will be updated frequently.
The book is written in an informal, tongue-in-cheek style that kept me virtually turning the pages. There is a bit of geekiness in some of the chapters, along with a few stray lines of software code, but the how-to passages are very clear and often illustrated with screenshots. As an up-to-date distillation of essential and time-saving techniques across a broad spectrum of academic activity, this book should be read by every physician in an academic practice, including residents.
Book:
Contents: ★★★★
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