So this was my first official week without studying for the USMLE. It dramatically impacted my evenings with my family, weekends, and “third-spaced” time (term explained in issue #3). My working hours at the hospital are, of course, unchanged.

I had the opportunity to roam Brookline with my family, go to the park, and visit the Boston zoo (where they offer fried dough and fried Oreos. What is up with that?!). I also attended the kids’ music lessons: Chelo for firstborn and piano for secondborn. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.

My commute time is no longer devoted to reviewing USMLE topics (aka Anki-hell). Instead, I read fellowship material or everyday books on my Kindle while listening to music. In other words, I now devote additional 40 hours a week to my family, professional development, and self-development. I love it.

As for settling in Boston, I still spend too much time on paperwork. Many systems here suffer from redundancy: medical, banking, workplace, etc. Almost every form I fill out is 7-10 pages long, and I’m usually asked to submit the same paper repeatedly. It is clear that over the years, procedures, documents, and regulations have been added instead of being cut down. As someone who values every minute of our time on this planet, I’m having difficulty getting used to it.

But we’re not here to discuss bureaucracy, right? Let’s feed our souls and break the subject of reading books.

#6, here we go!

Table of contents

1. Main Article - How I Read Books

2. OMFS World

3. Stuff (Book, Gear)

“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse”. -Carlos Castaneda, “Tales of Power”

Main Article - How I Read Books

⏰So first, let’s get this one over with: “How do you have time to read books?” Well, if you’re referring to conventional time - the sitting-on-a-couch-just-reading-a-book kind of time - I don’t. And until two and half years ago, I haven’t cracked a book for 30 years! I’m not talking about books for school or reading material for my PhD or residency. I read thousands of these over the years. I’m talking about “regular”, not school-related books.

🧑‍🏫A bit of history - I was a real bookworm between my second and sixth grades. I had a library card, and I rode the bus alone (sweet innocent 1980s…) to the library a few times each week to borrow books. I gave up my library card in the sixth grade because I finished reading, well, ALL the books in the library. Since then and until Covid-19 came, I hadn’t touched a book. At the time, between my medical school, being an OMFS attending, starting my private practice, and establishing my independent research path, I looked for some advice. However, I have reached a point in life where it has become extremely rare to find someone who can point me in the right direction. So I returned to books for guidance.

📖But how can I find time to read books? How could I waste time commuting to a library? And where can I find book recommendations? So luckily, we have technology that has come a long way and the internet that is filled with information. These enabled me to read around 100 books since 2020 and to familiarize myself with the essence of about 150 more. How did I do it? And what do I mean by “familiarize myself with the essence of a book?” I’m glad you asked! Let’s break it into electronic books, audiobooks, book summaries, and remembering what we’ve read.

🖥️First, paper vs. electronic books: The debate on electronic versus paper books has been long and drawn out. Both types of books have pros and cons, but for me, e-books have many advantages over traditional books. They are lighter and easier to carry, take up less space, and can be stored on a small device. E-books are also cheaper than paper books and are often available immediately after release. So, all in all, I will swear by my e-reader (a device for reading e-books): it will take me seconds to purchase a book, and it will take me seconds to start reading it. I can access all my books anywhere, anytime, on any device I have in hand (Kindle, computer, phone, tablet). In other words, the best reading method for me is the one that will allow me to pick up a book at any given moment. So while others cannot imagine giving up their physical books, I would rather have an accessible e-book at hand.

🎧Second, audiobooks: Though books have been around for centuries, how they are consumed has changed drastically in recent decades. No longer are written copies of novels necessary to enjoy a story - audiobooks have become a popular and convenient alternative. Although there are pros and cons to both methods of reading, it ultimately comes down to personal preference. There are situations, however, during which you just can’t read, such as driving and jogging. These are perfect opportunities for audiobooks! Moreover, some audiobooks are narrated by their author, who adds a new perspective to the printed version. Examples are Greenlights By Matthew McConaughey and Can’t hurt me by David Goggins (see issue #1 and issue #5 for recommendations). I could ask you to estimate how much time you can utilize for audiobooks. However, I believe that only by trying it will you be able to comprehend the amount of time available. You’ll be amazed! I suggest you get a free trial of an audiobook service (I like Audible), grab your headphones, and try it.

Speaking of audio, electric guitar 101 by Jimi Hendrix: holding your guitar upside down, play with your teeth, and play behind your head:

📝Thirdly, book summaries: What if you’re not certain that you will like a specific book before reading it? Surely you know how time-wasting it feels when you pick up a book and realize halfway that you don’t like it? For those of you who just keep on reading it to achieve a sense of accomplishment, stop doing that! For those of you who are willing to give my method a try, here it goes: I use a book summary service (nowadays Shortform, in the past I used Blinkist), which allows me to read (or listen to) a one-page summary. If I like it, I move on to read its full summary, read the whole book on my Kindle, or listen to the whole book on Audible. This way, if I already spent time on a specific book and ended up deciding not to read it, at least I got the most important parts out of it. Moreover, I use these summaries if I want to revisit a book that I read in the past. Both Shortform and Blinkst have free options - give them a try!

🧐Lastly - retention: Suppose I ask you to summarize a book you read a year ago. Better yet: Can you remember which books you read a year ago? 5 years ago? A decade ago? For most of us, the answer is a huge fat NO. Even if you read books just for the enjoyment of it, why not upgrade your experience by keeping what you read fresh in your mind? So this is my method: Whenever I stumble upon an interesting piece of information, whether in a book, a book summary, or an audiobook - I highlight it. These highlights are immediately saved onto my designated account (Kindle, Shortform, Audible). But I also want to keep my highlights in one accessible location and remember them. So for that, I’m using Readwise - an app that automatically synchronizes the highlights from all my book apps and keeps them accessible. The remarkable thing about this app is that it resurfaces your highlights by sending you a daily email with highlights from the past. I take it one step further and export all my highlights into a separate app (Notion), but this is getting too geeky for this article, so I’ll just stop here.

🤬Some of you probably think - “this will mess up my reading experience! What are all the techie things you are talking about?! I can barely do a software update on my phone!” Well, after initially setting up these apps, all it takes is a swipe of a finger on the text to highlight it (similar to using a marker). After that, you don’t need to do anything else! It’s all automatic! What about the pricing of this process? Highlighting in Kindle is free, Notion is free, and Readwise pricing can be found here. I use the student/academia 50% discount and pay 4$ a month for the full plan because I think Readwise is contributing to my personal development much more than 4$. Highly recommended!

🕺So this is how I do it. Even for you technophobes out there - if you would like to read more but don’t have the time, reading E-books will probably make it possible. Audiobooks and book summaries are also excellent, and setting them up is as easy as setting up any other app on your phone.

Next up, OMFS world. Feel free to skip to the next section if it’s not your thing. But before that, Elton John and Axl Rose duo during the tribute concert to Freddy Mercury.

This video always raises the same conversation with my kids: “Dad, why does Axl wear a dress?”; “That’s a skirt, not a dress”

OMFS World

👩‍🎓For the student - In school, we’re taught to keep our schoolwork to ourselves. But what if sharing our study material could benefit us? I believe that we should ALWAYS share ALL our work for several reasons. First, it allows us to get feedback from other students and learn from them. Second, it helps us to stay organized and accountable for our work. Thirdly, and most importantly, it helps us to build relationships with other students. Notice that I haven’t mentioned “getting something in return” because I don’t believe it should ever be our incentive for sharing. However, sharing will surround us with positivity, even if sometimes we will feel that we’re the only ones “doing all the work”. Trust me, I was one of the sources of studying material during dental school, and at times, I was among the few students who got up in the morning to attend the morning lectures and take notes. During finals, I shared all my answers for the practice tests and didn’t think about keeping any “competitive edge”. I won’t share my results here (although, as a firm believer in transparency, they are available on my website, under “education”), but it didn’t interfere with my results once or ever.

🥼For the OMFS resident - whenever you have a chance to present an abstract in national or international meetings, DO IT! The learning curve for writing abstracts and presenting them in front of a professional audience is incredibly steep, and you will get better fast. And please, don’t wait until after your residency! The more years you are in a particular profession, the higher the level of expectations from you will become. Posters are nice, but they won’t stress you enough. Public talks will challenge you the most! Just do it.

“In other words, our aversion to risk, which was once necessary, no longer is. Those same survival instincts that once kept us alive can now be the very thing that keeps us from actually living.” - Gary John Bishop, “Un**** Yourself”

🩺For the non-MD OMFS - familiarize yourself with the medical treatment protocol for acute coronary event (such as MI): Aspirin 160-325mg to chew, oxygen by mask if saturation is low, and nitroglycerine spray under the tongue. High-intensity statins, a second anti-platelet, and heparin will be administered after a proper diagnosis, and in some cases, beta-blockers and morphine will be added. ECG and troponin may provide valuable diagnostic information, but administration of aspirin, oxygen, and nitroglycerine can influence the patient’s SURVIVAL. This is extremely important to remember!

Stuff

📚Book I read - Eleven Rings by the legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. Phil Jackson created one of the best basketball teams of all time by bringing a diverse group of individuals to connect on the highest level possible. This book is great for people who value the journey towards reaching their goals and those who are keen to hone their management skills. I listened to the audiobook three times while jogging. Highly recommended!

💡Gear I use - Kindle Oasis. There are many types of e-readers out there, but I find the Kindle lineup very easy to use while taking advantage of the free kindle books included in my amazon prime membership. In 2019 I transitioned from the Kindle Paperwhite 3rd generation to Kindle Oasis, mainly because it has a blue-light filter which is important if you’re reading before bed (more on that in issue #2). This device is easy to operate, and its screen is similar to real paper. For the Hebrew readers out there - E-vrit is a great option as well.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue. For those of you who will give my reading tips a try, let me know how it goes.

In our next issue, we will discuss taking pictures, both as hobbyists and as clinicians.

If you enjoyed this issue and think of someone who may enjoy it as well, please forward it the way you would with any email. They can click subscribe at the bottom of that email if they want.

So grab yourself a book and have a great weekend!

Shay