CASE readers are very up to date with digital technology simply as a byproduct of reading a journal that has always been a digital product. In addition to the Society and Publisher homepages, Society-, editorial board- and author-driven distribution of this digital product using various social medial platforms has only served to widen the global audience.
As someone who invested considerable time learning how to ‘tweet’ as an educational tool, I have been fascinated by this journey. I joined Twitter way back in 2014 when ASE was initiating a social media effort with various events trying to get Society members more involved. ASE even held ‘tweet-ups’ during our Scientific Sessions. Although I don’t recall actually sending a tweet despite this introduction to the SoMe environment, I did eventually ‘sign up’.
I thought now was an appropriate time to dedicate this editorial to these early efforts for many reasons. First, that was 10 years ago making this a fitting anniversary for this recognition. Second, that event was held in Portland, Oregon – the same location as this year’s Annual Scientific Sessions. Third, that program was extra special because so many friends and colleagues were recognized (my colleague Mikel Smith was named the recipient of the Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award; Jonathan Lindner was the Program Chair; Benjamin Byrd was the President; Nelson Schiller won the Lifetime Achievement Award; Tom Ryan won the Meritorious Service Award, and Neil Weissman (@NWeissmanMD) was introduced as the incoming President). Another memory that unfolds is that the Edler Lecture that year was given by none other than our very own JASE Editor-In-Chief, Patty Pellikka (@pattypellikka), with the very CASE-appropriate title: “Echocardiography in an Era of Multimodality Imaging.” Fourth, I can only refer to the little bluebird logo (e.g. Twitter) for a while longer since it was rebranded nearly 1 year ago (and I refuse to “X-out” a bluebird). Fifth, if I wait much longer, I will forget many of those early efforts that emphasized SoMe ambassadors and little bluebird events. If you’d like to take a stroll down memory lane, check out this article (Figure 1): https://www.onlinejase.com/article/S0894-7317(14)00535-5/fulltext.
Figure 1.
Incoming ASE President, Neil J. Weissman, MD, FASE, takes a selfie with several recipients of the 2014 Alan D. Waggoner Scholarship Awards. (Back row, left to right): Yanfeng Din, Brittney Blicharz, and Sean Hackett. (Kneeling, left to right): Nicole Soellner, Delanie Sapelli, and Adam Wood. Front—Neil J. Weissman. Used with permission, from 25th Annual Scientific Sessions Highlights, June 20–June 24, 2014 Portland, Oregon. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2014; 27: A19-A27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2014.07.013.
As I recall, it was not until a few years later, during the 2017 Annual Scientific Sessions, that I sent my very 1st tweet (NOTE: I have now sent nearly 10,000 posts). The meeting was in Baltimore, Maryland, and Allan Klein (@AllanLKleinMD1) was the ASE President (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
2016-2017 ASE President, Allan L. Klein, MD, FASE, Director, Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Diseases, Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, presented the “State of ASE” on Sunday morning. Used with permission, from Highlights from the 28th Annual American Society of Echocardiography Scientific Sessions, June 2-6, 2017 Baltimore, Maryland. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2017; 30: A24-A40, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2017.07.005.
That year once again included a long list of friends and colleagues who were recognized by ASE (Vera Rigolin (@RigolinVera) was the incoming president; Bill Stewart received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Alan Pearlman received the Meritorious Service Award; Muhamed Saric (@saricmu) received the Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award). (NOTE: In a future editorial I will summarize Allan and his son Dr. Jared Klein who rapped during the ASEF Gala event to the music of Billy Joel - #DropTheMike). Highlights with pictures from the 28th Annual ASE program can be found here: https://www.onlinejase.com/article/S0894-7317(17)30534-5/fulltext.
I still vividly recall speaking with my former mentor and current friend (David Wiener (@DavidWienerMD), current Vice President of ASE) who spent 5 precious minutes showing me how to (re)download the Twitter app and helped me send my first tweet (embarrassingly, I think it may have been a selfie of the two of us). Since then, ASE has successfully created a regularly recurring Journal Club hosted on Twitter (#ASEchoJC) and is recognized as a leader in online education. The hashtags #ASE360 & #EchoFirst join other imaging modalities (e.g. #WhyCMR and #PowerOfZero) as leading social media brands for noninvasive diagnostic mastery.
Some of the most common questions I am asked when people learn that my @VLSorrellImages Twitter homepage has a pinned echo that has been viewed nearly 0.4 million times and liked by nearly 1,400 individuals: (1) How much time do you spend on Twitter; (2) How do you create ‘tweets’ that are educational (and interesting); and (3) How do you recommend someone gets started? I will answer those questions in order: (1) I limit social media to </= 30 minutes / week (unless I participate in the #ASEchoJC); (2) If I find something interesting, I believe that others will find it interesting, too. I trust in my opinion, and I would suggest that you do as well. Consider including questions that drive discussion or stimulate learning. Include a short, high-quality video whenever possible. Echo is designed for CASE-based learning, so it is a wonderful fit for social media platforms. (3) The hardest step in a 26.2 mile marathon is not the last, it’s the first. Same for online education; the first attempt is the hardest (but, you have to take a lot of steps to cross the finish line of a marathon).
In this month’s issue of CASE, you will be delighted to read the report from Pakistan by Shams et al. using a multimodality imaging approach to diagnose biventricular endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) complicated by coexisting chronic myeloid leukemia. The authors used echo and advanced imaging tools to differentiate EMF from other imaging mimickers, to define the stage and extent of the disease, and to provide prognostication and determine the response to the treatment. There are also multiple reports emphasizing the value of echocardiography for valvular heart disease. Canavan et al. include a report on a very rare circumstance when there was the need to perform a mitral valve-in-valve-in-valve procedure. Imaging was critical to their success of that rare procedure. Bansal et al. provide readers with a wonderful CASE example of one of the potential causes for mitral regurgitation after mechanical MVR. The report is ripe with educational insights including a schematic diagram you will want to keep in your echo lab reference library. In a series of characteristic images of a disease that uniquely impacts the pulmonic and tricuspid valves, Yoshida et al. include a CASE that caused the authors to review the images retrospectively and use their discussion on that review to educate the Journal readers. It serves to remind us of the power of CASE-based teaching and learning. The final report is a veterinary report with insights into chronic pulmonary hypertension (PH). Kellihan et al. use TTE, radiography, gross and histo-pathology to demonstrate the correlation between diagnostic imaging and pathology. Despite the severity of disease, their dog modified lifestyle and lived with progressive, long-standing PH.
I hope that after reading this editorial, you post it on your own personal social media platform and also tag me (@VLSorrellImages), CASE (@CASEfromASE) and ASE (@ASE360) when you do. If you have never posted anything, I hope this editorial gets you started on your own SoMe marathon using this method as a valuable educational tool. Whether you use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, or some other niche or specialized SoMe platform is less important. What is important is your active engagement as both a teacher and a learner. You have much to offer. So, please teach us… we’re waiting to learn!
Remember, every echo you see today has a teaching point; and every teaching point is a potential new CASE report!