{"id":10097,"date":"2021-05-10T10:35:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T14:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/?p=10097"},"modified":"2021-05-13T14:51:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T18:51:10","slug":"goodbye-physicians-first-watch-were-really-going-to-miss-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/index.php\/goodbye-physicians-first-watch-were-really-going-to-miss-you\/2021\/05\/10\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye, Physician’s First Watch — We’re Really Going to Miss You"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WPA travel poster (1939) has nothing to do with this post, but I like it since everyone hates mosquitos, especially ID docs.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the great joys of life is working with great people, and for me, this includes frequent interactions with several skillful medical editors. They scan these posts for typos and awkward sentences, and warn me when I inadvertently include a copyrighted image or an inappropriate video.<\/p>\n

They also worked, until recently, for Physician’s First Watch<\/em><\/a>, which sent out daily emails highlighting the top stories in medicine — published papers, conference highlights, policy changes, new guidelines.<\/p>\n

For practicing clinicians too busy to keep up with the voluminous medical literature and breaking news, this service was absolute gold — how else would an Infectious Diseases doctor learn about (yet another) negative vitamin D study? The latest on how to manage back pain in outpatients? Or understand that the USPSTF<\/a> has come out with (yet another) recommendation against screening for a certain disease?<\/p>\n

(Those USPSTF guys sure are tough. Wonder if you have to take a standardized skepticism test before joining this group, with only those scoring in the 99th percentile allowed in.)<\/p>\n

That the First Watch<\/em> newsletter came from a trusted source, with the appropriate references readily linked, only added to the value. You never felt like it was a thinly veiled marketing platform, or clickbait. Here’s What the Grouchy USPSTF Panel Does in Its Free Time — and You’ll Never Believe It<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Physician’s First Watch<\/em> also kept me updated in my own field, Infectious Diseases — in particular advances outside of my primary areas of focus. Recent examples included a systematic assessment of delayed antibiotic prescribing<\/a> in the outpatient setting and an observational study comparing amoxicillin-clavulanate and metronidazole plus a fluoroquinolone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alas, Physician’s First Watch<\/em> ceased publication on April 29th — and the medical world mourns. Email from a Dr. Frank Domino, a primary care physician:<\/p>\n

Hey Paul —<\/em>
\nWhy did NEJM stop First Watch? It was awesome! Kept me up to date better than anything, and I used it as a teaching tool with students all of the time.<\/em>
\nFrank<\/em><\/p>\n

We agree, Frank. It was regular breakfast table conversation fodder for both my wife (a practicing pediatrician) and me.<\/p>\n

As I understand it, the decision was purely a business one, as the quality was always superb. But publishing in general, and medical publishing in particular, is going through a very unstable time. It’s no secret that many online and other “free” electronic endeavors have not been able to generate revenue from their content, a problem exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a superb review<\/a> of why some of these sites have either shifted to a subscription model or shut down entirely.<\/p>\n

But one thing is clear, at least for now (looks over his shoulder) — I’m going to continue writing on this site. Am enormously grateful to NEJM Journal Watch for the opportunity to write this blog or column or newsletter, or whatever you want to call it.\u00a0I also greatly appreciate all the regular readers, and comments, and suggestions, and feel like we’ve built a wonderful ID-oriented community that welcomes anyone interested, ID-trained or not.<\/p>\n

For those who relied on Physician’s First Watch<\/em> for notification about new posts, that’s not going to work anymore. But you can subscribe by entering your name and email address in the Subscribe box at the end of this post or in the column to the right, and confirming that you want a subscription — then shazam, just like magic, you’ll get an email when a new post appears. Don’t worry, we won’t share your name or email with anyone.<\/p>\n

I’ll continue to cover the latest on ID, HIV, and while it’s still with us, (deep breath) COVID-19 — along with other general ID and non-ID topics, and the occasional silly digressions. Here’s a summary of the various things covered over the years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who knows? One of these days I might come up with a more interesting title — suggestions still welcome!<\/p>\n

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