Creating Effective Infographics and Visual Abstracts to Disseminate Research and Facilitate Medical Education on Social Media.

Presenting information in a visual format helps viewers digest complex concepts in an efficient, effective manner. Recently, infographics have been used on social media and other digital platforms to educate health professionals, trainees, and patients about medical and public health topics. In addition, visual abstracts, visual representations of a research article's written abstract, have been increasingly used to disseminate new research findings to other health professionals. In this review article, we will define infographics and visual abstracts, describe why they are useful, outline how to create them, and explain how researchers, educators, and clinicians can use them effectively. We share resources and a stepwise approach that allows readers to create their own infographics and visual abstracts for research dissemination, medical education, and patient communication.

A 42-Year-Old Man with Back Pain and Lower Extremity Weakness.

Back Pain and Lower-Extremity WeaknessA 42-year-old man with HIV presented for evaluation of acute-onset back pain and lower-extremity weakness. How do you approach the evaluation, and what is the diagnosis?

Longitudinal trends using a point-of-care gelatin-based model for ultrasound-guided central venous catheter insertion.

Ultrasound (US)-guided central venous catheter (CVC) insertion is a procedure that carries the risk of significant complications. Simulation provides a safe learning atmosphere, but most CVC simulators are not available outside of simulation centers. To explore longitudinal trends in US-guided CVC insertion competency in internal medicine (IM) interns, we studied the use of a low-fidelity, gelatin-based, US-guided CVC insertion simulation model combined with a simulation curriculum. This prospective observational study of IM interns was performed over the course of one academic year. Interns (n = 56) underwent model-based, US-guided procedure simulation training program and a repeated training course prior to their intensive care unit (ICU) rotation. CVC insertion competency at different timepoints was recorded. Survey data about intern experience and attitudes were also collected. Out of the 56 interns initially trained, 40 were included in the final analysis. Across all outcomes, interns experienced skill atrophy between initial training and the beginning of their ICU month. However, by the end of the month, there was a significant improvement in competency as compared to initial procedural training, which then waned by the end of the intern year. Attitudes toward the model were generally positive and self-reported confidence improved throughout the course of the year and correlated with objective measures of competency. Over the course of their intern year, which included simulation training using a gelatin-based model, interns demonstrated consistent competency trends. The use of a gelatin-based CVC insertion simulation model warrants further study as an adjunctive aid to existing simulation training.

Primary Care and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Services in Publicly Funded Family Planning Clinics in the Southern United States.

BACKGROUND: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is underutilized by US women. Cost and resource concerns are barriers to PrEP delivery in settings that see men. Family planning clinics may be ideal PrEP delivery settings for women, but as they are not uniform in their clinical services, cost and resource concerns may vary. OBJECTIVE: We examined factors that influence perceptions of costs and resources related to PrEP delivery in Title X-funded family planning clinics in Southern states, which overlaps with high HIV-burden areas. DESIGN: We conducted a web-based survey among a convenience sample of clinicians and administrators of Title X clinics across 18 Southern states (DHHS regions III, IV, VI). We compared cost- and resource-related survey items and other clinic- and county-level variables between clinics by whether their clinics also provided other primary care services. We analyzed interviews for cost and resource themes. PARTICIPANTS: Title X clinic staff in the South. KEY RESULTS: Among 283 unique clinics, a greater proportion of clinics that also provided primary care currently provided PrEP compared with those that did not provide primary care (27.8% vs. 18.3%, p = 0.06), but this difference was not statistically significant. Among 414 respondents in clinics that were not providing PrEP, those in clinics with primary care services were more likely to respond that they had the necessary financial resources (p < 0.01) and staffing (p < 0.01) for PrEP implementation compared to those without primary care services. In interviews, respondents differed on concerns about costs of labs and staffing based on whether their clinic had concomitant primary care services or not. CONCLUSIONS: Among publicly funded Southern family planning clinics, current PrEP provision was higher among clinics with concomitant primary care. Among clinics not providing PrEP, those with concomitant primary care services have lower perceived cost and resource barriers and therefore may be optimal for expanding PrEP among women.