Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

Table of contents

1. Preface

2. Main Article

3. OMFS World

4. Stuff

Preface

🚗 This week, I took the Massachusetts Road Test. It has been 25 years since I took my first road test back home, and I never thought I would ever retake it. I guess being a fellow has its surprises.

🤔 For the test, you must bring a sponsor. A sponsor is a person who knows you and has a US driver's license. Your sponsor sits behind you and cannot speak throughout the test 🤫.

The test started with me showing the examiner how to hand signal: A straight hand out the window signifies a left turn 🤛, up is a right turn 🖐️, and down is slow-down 👇.

After passing that weird part, we went on the road. I changed lanes, repeatedly turned my head behind my shoulder every time I turned, and obeyed the street signs. Then I demonstrated my parallel parking, reverse driving, and 3-point turn.

It took about 15 minutes, and at the end, I got my “Passed” signature on my license.

🚘 😃 The world is my oyster!

🎬 On the YouTube front, after the success of my first video, I started working on my following videos. By popular demand, the upcoming videos will include a guide to clinical photography, how I use Anki cards, and a step-by-step guide to using the RSS feature in PubMed. Let me know if you're interested in other guides.

In today's newsletter, I will share how I use AI on a daily basis, both as a clinician and a scientist.

Enjoy #36!

Main Article

🤖 Artificial intelligence (AI) has stormed into our lives and revolutionized how we work, communicate, and interact with technology.

🧑‍🔬 As a scientist, I have always been interested in the potential of AI to accelerate and enhance my work.

However, while I've used AI extensively for image analysis 📷, I never relied on it for analyzing texts 🗒️.

This has now changed.

Certain AI features have matured enough to the point anyone can use them.

Over the last few months, I experimented with AI on a daily basis: For day-to-day tasks 👷‍♂️, for studying 🧑‍🎓, and god forbid, for science 😱.

With so much hype around AI and the many AI tools, it can be challenging to know where to begin.

So in today's newsletter, I will share how I use AI to boost my productivity and effectiveness across various tasks.

We'll cover routine daily tasks, studying, and scientific research.

🐕 AI The Personal Assistant

I use AI to extract the essence of lengthy texts without meaningful purpose.

For example, the RMV manual. It's a 160-page text required for anyone taking the written exam for a Massachusetts driver's license 😫. This text repeats itself and is bloated with too much information. It could have been easily condensed into 30 pages.

❓ So I asked AI to summarize all the high-yield facts in bullet points. It provided an excellent representation of what was important in a matter of seconds. The next step was to read the text while the bullet points guided what was essential and what was not.

🔵 Take home message:

AI can summarize lengthy texts that don't serve a meaningful purpose in your life.

⚠️ Warning:

It's crucial to verify the accuracy! AI can lie to your face.

👩‍🏫 AI The Study Partner

AI is an excellent aid in the memorization of study materials.

For example, preparing for surgery 😷. No matter how many times I went over the relevant material, I constantly review it again before each surgery.

However, reading the exact text repeatedly contributes very little to my knowledge.

This is where AI shines!

First, I ask AI to summarize the surgery in bullet points from every book I have. Then, I ask it to summarize only the anatomical landmarks. Then I ask it to prepare a shorter and more extended version.

I have six versions of the exact text in seconds, which is wonderful for my studying routine.

Next, I copy and paste all the text into Speechify and listen to it on the go. This way, I can prepare myself for surgeries while I commute to work or go out for a jog.

🔵 Take home message:

AI can go through large amounts of study materials and prepare infinite summaries. Perfect for studying, ready in seconds!

⚠️ Warning:

It's up to you to put in the work to actually memorize the information.

💁 AI The Intern

I use AI to skim through research papers and extract important information.

Imagine AI as having a meeting with your intern, who has already read the manuscript. In that meeting, you ask the questions: "What's the bottom line?”, “Summarize the quantifiable data for me,” “Show me all the statistically significant data and include P value,” and so on.

This way, I can quickly identify the most important information in a paper, allowing me to focus on the most relevant parts of the research.

However, I NEVER rely on AI for research.

After using AI to skim the text, extract the numbers, and answer my questions, I read through the entire text on my own. This approach allows me to comprehend the information better and make a more informed judgment on my initial reading.

🔵 Take home message:

In less than a minute, AI can prepare me for reading a manuscript for the first time. This makes the reading experience more productive and enjoyable.

⚠️ Warning:

Don't trust AI to read for you! The summaries can be inaccurate or even false.

Which AI tools do I use

Currently, I use four AI tools:

1. Notion AI - Costs 10$ a month. I currently use credits that I have accumulated over the years instead of actually paying for it. I am still undecided about whether to pay for it once my credits are exhausted.
   
   

2. Google's BARD - Currently completely free.
   
   

3. Readwise Reader - The Readwise Reader is free, but not for long. I pay $4 monthly for the Readwise (highlights) App, which includes the Reader under the same price. If you are affiliated with an academic institution and sign up, you can receive a 50% discount. Additionally, there's a 30-day free trial; this link will provide you with an extra free month.
   
   

4. Speechify - is my favorite text-to-speech app that reads any text for me. It saves me 30-60 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY.
   
   

Recently I started experimenting with ChatGPT as well. I'll keep you posted.

My recommendation:

Start exploring AI today!

It can save you time, reduce frustration, and transform boring tasks into enjoyable ones. Google Bard is an excellent choice because it's completely free as of today. Other apps have a free trial.

OMFS World

👩‍🎓For the student If you're a student on a budget, I highly recommend the MacBook Air M1. Despite being two and a half years old, it can handle almost anything you throw at it and is incredibly reliable.

Apple continues to push updates for many years, so you can expect plenty of use from it. Its benefit-cost ratio is very high, making it an excellent choice for students looking for a powerful and reliable laptop without breaking the bank.

🥼For the OMFS resident

When it comes to presenting a case or operating on it, there are three main pillars you need to prepare yourself for: “Where do I cut?” “What is in my way?” and “What can go wrong (and when)”?

You need to know exactly where you'll make your incisions, and I mean EXACTLY. There's no way you are preparing yourself for a case and don't know what to do with the blade.

You also need to be aware of what is in your way while cutting, or, in other words, familiarize yourself with the anatomy.

Finally, you need to know what can go wrong during the surgery, during the postoperative period, and how to react if a complication occurs. Focusing on these three pillars will cover the most critical aspects of any surgery.

Stuff

📱Application I use

Genius Scan is great for quickly scanning documents on the go. The app's auto-crop and auto-enhance features make it easy to get high-quality scans every time. Its free version served me well for many years.

Epilogue

That's it for this issue.

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My Workflow for Reading & Writing Manuscripts: Inoreader, Readwise Reader, and Notion

My Workflow for Reading & Writing Manuscripts

I stopped using Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Word, and never looked back!
This is how I use Notion and Readwise Reader.

Have a great weekend!

Shay