Jama

[thegenius]

I'm sure many of us, like me, get the weekly JAMA magazine. How do you guys manage all of the journal articles with each publication?

Here's what happens at my place. I have the best intentions of reading over each publication, but what ends up happening is that I build a pile of JAMA's near my bed, and I really only dedicate about 5 minutes of reading time per publication. And that time is usually found on the potty.

What is the best way to look over each magazine? Do you save them all? I see no point in that because you can access them online. About 1/2 of all journal articles I do not understand (I'm a M1), about another 1/4 I have no interest in (or I do not understand them). There are usually 1-2 entries for each magazine that I have interest in.

Even then, I don't spend all the time critiquing each article, analyzing the methods section for various biases or the validity of the results. I invariably look at the title, jump right to the summary conclusion in the abstract and read it. If it's interesting then I might read the entire abstract or read sections of each article.

Then I forget what I read two days later.

Thanks for your forthcoming pithy posts.

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[Ashers]

Mine basically go in the trash immediately.

Once every few issues I look and see if there's an interesting looking title (usually if I like the artwork on the front determines if the issue doesn't go in the trash as soon as I walk in the door).

Edit: Just used one of mine to pack some glasses to send to a friend.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Straight to the trash, and if I have time I read the NEJM online.

 

[danierrr]

It seems a shame to waste them 🙁

Wouldn't your medical schools / hospitals want them? For coffee tables and offices and bookshelves or something?

Or, better yet, maybe we should petition the AMA to have a "stop sending JAMA to us even though we paid for it" option so at least they won't send the magazines to people who say they won't even read them. Then everyone wins 🙂

 

[Ashers]

It seems a shame to waste them 🙁

I'm gonna use mine right now to put hot cookies on. I usually keep one around because it's not as disheveled as a newspaper (for cooking purposes).

 

[thegenius]

They do give you the option to be a subscriber to JAMA and not receive the magazines in the mail. You can view every issue online. I opted (at the very end of a 1 month decision process) to keep getting the magazines, although I sometimes regret that.

 

[danierrr]

So they DO have an opt-out! Thanks for telling me 🙂

I've got a pile of Chemical & Engineering News (which doesn't have an opt-out) because my university gives all chemistry majors free American Chemistry Society membership, and I wish I could send them to people who'll actually read them!

*sits in corner and wishes I had access to fresh, hot cookies*

 

[evade]

I read the "A Piece of my Mind" bit (some of them are very good), and send 'em straight off to the recycle bin. I've never even considered actually reading and critiquing the research therein. 😉

 

[njbmd]

For every journal that I read on a regular basis (about 15 to 20 weekly), I read the abstracts of every article, complete article if of direct interest to my practice and letters to editor and critiques if of interest. The journals then go directly into the trash. Most of my journals are on-line so I don't have a huge trash pile to empty each week.

I print out the abstracts of articles that are directly related to my research and file them. I also keep an Excel file of every article summary along with citation so that I can access things that I have read that might be of use in my research. I can easily transfer these things to my citation software if needed and the Excel file lets me know weekly, if I am keeping up with my journal reading.

When I started medical school, I read NEJM case reports every week. I also read the review articles too. In JAMA, I read the abstracts of the original articles and promptly tossed this journal. This was enough for me to keep up with the literature at that point. My other reading as a medical student was Nature Medicine because of the great basic science articles.

As a resident, my list of journals went up significantly especially after I joined the American College of Surgeons. At this point, I have a strong literature base that I developed over time.

My advice: Don't let the JAMAs build up but scan the abstracts for articles of interest. Keep a journal/literature log and contribute to it regularly. Use your medical library and get to know the journals of the specialties that interest you. At this point in your career, you don't have to read them but you should make yourself aware of them. Set aside no more than an hour a week to scan the literature. This is an easy Saturday or Sunday routine that will pay off later in your career.

 

[HreComesTheSun]

wow, njbmd, as a scientist (future physician scientist) i am extremely impressed by the effort you put in to stay on top of current findings 👍

 

[liverotcod]

I only read about the cover art.

 

[TheRealDrDorian]

Wait, I'm starting med school this fall. We get free subscriptions to these journals? I'm confused...

 

[danierrr]

Wait, I'm starting med school this fall. We get free subscriptions to these journals? I'm confused...

Not exactly. The AMA branch at your medical school will offer you a four-year membership for around $65, and throw in a free textbook (Netter's, I think) that you'll need anyway, so it's a sweet deal and most people sign up. I bet the textbook is about that much if you were to buy it without AMA membership.

With AMA comes JAMA.

 

[Ashers]

Not exactly. The AMA branch at your medical school will offer you a four-year membership for around $65, and throw in a free textbook (Netter's, I think) that you'll need anyway, so it's a sweet deal and most people sign up. I bet the textbook is about that much if you were to buy it without AMA membership.

With AMA comes JAMA.

AMSA =Netter's (if you get the credit card, which you can cancel immediately)
AMA = Stedman's Medical Dictionary

Both are worth it to join if only for the text book.

 

[NCF145]

Do med students get any special deals on subscribing to NEJM?

 

[TheRealDrDorian]

Do med students get any special deals on subscribing to NEJM?

Good question...I'll make it even more general and ask do med students get any special deals on any other journal?

 

[lord_jeebus]

Good question...I'll make it even more general and ask do med students get any special deals on any other journal?

I get Anesthesiology for $10/yr

 

[ForbiddenComma]

Do med students get any special deals on subscribing to NEJM?

$65 is their standard rate... I'm sure there are special deals out there, but I'm not sure what they are.

NEJM > JAMA in my opinion, especially for the med student. NEJM has a lot of case studies, clinical experiences and basic-science articles that benefit us in addition to the primary research pieces. JAMA's research articles are comparable, but is lacking in other regards.

Plus, having the table of contents on the cover is a lot more useful than some marginal piece of motel art.

 

[Bike on a Trek]

I'm sure many of us, like me, get the weekly JAMA magazine. How do you guys manage all of the journal articles with each publication?

Here's what happens at my place. I have the best intentions of reading over each publication, but what ends up happening is that I build a pile of JAMA's near my bed, and I really only dedicate about 5 minutes of reading time per publication. .....

It's really hard to read EACH article. But, getting in the habit of reading the ones that seem interesting to you (based on title and abstract) is a good thing. JAMA (and probably the others) allows you to have an RSS feed to your email in which you get the Table of Contents emailed to you each week--you could just look that over and decide whether the print copy to follow has anything you want to browse.

The Citation Index (probably available through your library {ISI Web of Knowledge}) ranks all journals by their Impact Factor and Immediacy Factor, based on how often the articles are cited. The top 4 clinical journals by far are as follows:

New England Journal> Lancet and JAMA which are similar>Annals of Internal Medicine

Obviously, the first 3 are broader in their coverage (ie, not specialty based). As a medical student in years 1-3, the original articles in these journals are going to be hit or miss in terms of their immediacy for you. The reviews will be more useful as a trainee (e.g. Clinical Practice series and Case Reports in NEJM, Rational Clinical Examination and Clinical Crossroads in JAMA, and metaanalyses in Annals).

 

[Cirrus83]

AMSA =Netter's (if you get the credit card, which you can cancel immediately)
AMA = Stedman's Medical Dictionary

Both are worth it to join if only for the text book.

Not worth trashing your credit report for a free text book. Unless you plan on keeping a credit card, don't sign up for it (this applies to all credit cards), since signing up and canceling cards is bad for your credit score (lowers the average age of your credit lines).

I dunno why people always do this (sign up and cancel), since signing up and keeping the cards doesn't cost you any extra and doesn't trash your credit as badly.

I'll sign up for credit cards when there's good incentives, but I don't cancel them right away. Hell, I don't even live near a Sam's Club anymore and I've been paying for the membership for the last 2 years just because I already have a line of credit with them and I didn't want the line of credit to look too young. Thankfully I'm moving back near a Sam's Club so I won't have to keep paying for no reason, lol.

The downside of course is that you do end up with a huge collection of credit cards, but it's not that big of a deal since a lot of my cards are with the same banks so they all show up when I log into my accounts online anyway. I just don't use some of the cards.

 

[njbmd]

Wait, I'm starting med school this fall. We get free subscriptions to these journals? I'm confused...

You actually do not need free subscriptions if your school has a good medical library. Our library has hundreds of the relevant journals on-line so that you don't have stacks of paper lying around your "crib" or filling the dumpster out back.

Use the the journals in your library and if on-line, so much the better because it's cheaper for you. That's why you pay those tuition dollars. 😉

 

[anon-y-mouse]

It seems a shame to waste them 🙁

Wouldn't your medical schools / hospitals want them? For coffee tables and offices and bookshelves or something?

Or, better yet, maybe we should petition the AMA to have a "stop sending JAMA to us even though we paid for it" option so at least they won't send the magazines to people who say they won't even read them. Then everyone wins 🙂

You don't remember that series of JAMA with the postcards at the front? "This is one of your last issues", "This is your 4th last issue, TAKE ACTION", "This is your penultimate issue", "This is your FINAL ISSUE, deal with it"...

and you had to send those cards back to ensure you still got the magazine. I sent mine back, but it took forever to 're-renew' my subscription.

At any rate, I put them in my bathroom, and so therefore they end up getting read...

 

[Medikit]

I like them for plane flights

 

[Oystersauz]

Hey, I thought I'd just let you guys know that you can always request to have AMA stop sending you hard copies of JAMA magazines too your mail by simply calling the AMA number 800-621-8335 and speaking to someone about it. They still send regular emails regarding recent publications anyway, saves trees this way.