The CJSM blog, and more. Much more.

Interactivity: The Holy Grail
of On-Line Media

The CJSM blog was started by my predecessor and now CJSM Executive Editor, Chris Hughes, in June 2011.  We just passed the ‘century mark’ (this is the 103rd post for the blog) and, on a personal note, I am hitting the ‘half century’ mark:  this is the 50th post I’ve authored since taking over the reins in April of this year.  My first post, just over six months ago, was on the forthcoming 2013 AMSSM conference in San Diego.

Oh, and yes, I hit that half century mark earlier this year, but I hardly find that cause for celebration……

These blog post numbers have put me in a reflective mood, and I thought I might go over some of the ground we have covered and talk a little bit about where we might be going with our various on-line CJSM offerings in the world of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM).

If you look at the ‘word cloud’ in the right hand panel of the blog site, the largest phrase will be “Concussion in Sport.”  We’ve posted frequently on this topic, justifiably so given the breadth and the public health implications of the issue.  We’ve discussed the use of neuropsychological testing in concussion management in 2011 and more recently again in 2013. I recently reviewed the powerful PBS documentary “League of Denial,” which I think is one of the better produced analyses of the issue in the popular media.  We brought to you the Zurich Consensus statement in the journal earlier this year and discussed it on the blog as well as on YouTube.  Chris explored the issue of repetitive heading and it’s putative link to long-term neurological damage in a 2011 post.  There will be more posts on this topic coming, and the phrase in the word cloud will surely enlarge:  the more we learn about this issue, the more questions there are to answer, and that, of course, drives the sorts of research that will find its way on to the CJSM pages.

Some of the more popular posts have been about such wide-ranging issues as the effect of Ramadan on sports performance; the medical coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon, which riveted the world; and Novak Djokovic’s gluten-free diet:  performance enhancing or not?  If you have an opinion on the matter, go to that link, where you will find a poll along with the blog post.  Such polls are just another of the interactive media we use here at CJSM.

Both Chris and I have enjoyed identifying leaders in the field of sport and exercise medicine, and asking them to take a test drive of the blog with a guest post.  These posts have typically been very popular.  I had my friend and exercise medicine expert Dr. Avery Faigenbaum expound on his nascent concept of ‘Exercise Deficit Disorder.‘ This post got a tremendous number of views and a lot of traffic on social media, with 200 re-posts on Facebook and 119 re-tweets.  Chris had Dr. Jonathan Williams discuss the issue of Exercise-induced Hyponatremia, which likewise was heavily viewed.

Ok, I’ve really revealed just how old I am.
But TV has rarely been better than when
Dick would interview a luminary like Marlon Brando

‘5 questions with CJSM’ is a new format I have introduced which is a twist on the guest blog theme.  I approach well-published experts in a field and pose five questions to them.  I think this casual format allows the guests to open up and dicuss important aspects of their work.  My guest interviews have, so far, been with Drs. Jason Mihalik of the University of North Carolina, William P. Meehan III of Children’s Hospital Boston, and Keith Yeates of Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  I will be using this format with future guests, and I hope some day to introduce video so I can conduct a proper conversation and share that with the readership.

I have aspirations to be an on-line, SEM ‘Dick Cavett’, though I might more closely resemble Seinfeld’s Kramer on his mock up of the Merv Griffin set.

We discuss in our editorial meetings how to improve on our approach to getting the journal’s content on-line. This is the future of evidence-based-medicine as I see it.  The journal website is a valuable resource; as just one example, I’d encourage you to go to the collection of Concussion articles we made available this summer.  If you’re reading this on an iPad, good on you!  If you’re not, but you’d like to, make sure you get that app here:  it’s a free download, and will enrich your experience of the journal.  I interact with many of you on our twitter feed and on Facebook.  As of this writing, @cjsmonline has nearly 2600 followers on twitter, and I can tell you most days I’m spending a fair amount of time tweeting about sports medicine topics with folks from S. Africa to Canada.  CJSM truly spans the globe with our on-line offerings.

So, there is a lot going on here at CJSM.  The journal and its rich contents–original research, case reports, the sports medicine journal club, and more–drives the editorial board.  And our other various offerings–this blog, the social media links, the iPad apps, the polls, etc.–strive to serve you and bring you that journal content, as well as place it in the larger, changing-by-the-minute context of the SEM world.

Time to sign off.  Enjoy El Clasico (I’m an avowed Messi fan) or whatever else you may be watching, or playing, this weekend.  See you on line!