It’s Friday. We’re all tired and want to go home, CMEpalooza Fall is next Wednesday, and this is my third blog post of the week. So, let’s do something fun before I nudge you about the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge. With Halloween just a few days away, let’s do a quick monster ranking. Here are the Top 5 All-Time Most Despicable Monsters:

5. Larry Bird
4. Sidney Crosby
3. Michael Irvin
2. Tom Brady
1. Joe Carter

(You see, the joke here is that these aren’t actual monsters. They are the names of some of the most hated rival players in Philadelphia sports history, and I got to refer to them as “despicable monsters.” This would have been much funnier for you if you knew anything about Philly sports. I regret that, yet I still got to laugh out loud when I wrote it. At least I had a good time.)

Getting back to our main topic, this is a reminder to everyone that the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge wraps up Sunday night (click here for more info). I know everyone loves to wait for the last day (and sometimes after the last day) to send me their step counts — and that’s fine — but you don’t have to wait for the last day. You can send them to me right now, if you want. Or don’t. I’m not the boss of you. You’re an adult, you can do what you want. Just make sure you send them to me.

And just to prove that people do participate in our contests and that we do have actual winners, here is the list of winners of our sponsor event, CMEpalooza Multiplicity, that wrapped up last week:

• Jen Atchison, Director of Continuing Medical Education and Recognized Accreditor Programs, Colorado Medical Society
• Vanessa Gray, DHA, MHA, CHCP, CMP, Director, Continuing Medical Education, Center for Educational Enhancement, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences
• Jeannine Creazzo, , MLIS, MBA, AHIP-D, Director, Medical Library, Continuing Education, and Research, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset
• Jess Henry, CHCP, Continuing Medical Education Specialist, Northwell Health
• Brittane Strahan, MSN, RN, CCRP, Freelance Medical Writer

Have a great Friday, everyone! Get stepping!

do Millennials
know the smooth sounds of Wang Chung?
a Gen X haiku

catch Palooza Fall
on October twenty-one
you won’t regret it

don’t forget your steps
STEPtacular Challenge ends
this coming Sunday

9 AM ET: From Courses to Conversations: Lessons from Building an AI Clinical Assistant for CME

very nice of them
to build a cool helper for
Allen Iverson

10 AM ET: Grant Anatomy 201: More Grant Proposal Dissection

101 last Fall
but there was so much to say
more time was needed

11 AM ET: Treating the Moment vs. Transforming the Journey: Why Only Funding Treatment-Focused Education Is Failing Patients

a good reminder
it’s not the destination
it is the journey

Noon ET: Ties That Teach: Connecting Clinician and Patient Education

blest be ties that bind
our patient education
to our clinicians

1 PM ET: CME Time Machine: Whatever Happened to Our Biggest Ideas?

some ideas work
some ideas fade out like
Power Rangers pogs

2 PM ET: The Late Show Top 10 List for CME Professionals: Things We Wish We’d Known Earlier

Letterman tribute
but no stupid human tricks
maybe for next time

3 PM ET: Miles from the City but Minutes from Learning: The Power of CME in Rural America

CE should always
be location agnostic
rural or urban

4 PM ET: Ask Us Anything: Live Rewind

a session in which
Scott and Derek seek answers
from smarter colleagues

Sponsors

sponsor palooza
get a handcrafted haiku
awesome haiku deal

Gold

taking advantage
of this awesome haiku deal
Daiichi Sankyo

like Dre and Snoop rapped
nuthin’ but MLG thang
that was bad, sorry

Silver

how is the fall like
Academic CME?
both have Hayes-y days

one of only two
palooza pharma sponsors
Bristol Myers Squibb

you’ll find no quitters
at CME Outfitters
perhaps some knitters

there is only one
Global Education Group
the rest are just crowds

the Brawny man has
nothing on this Braun-y man
prez of GLC

we are really-o
super fans of Healio
that’s our dealy-o

whether you are a
brother or you’re a mother
you’re stayin’ Medlive

Pri-Med‘s primary
prerogative is passion
for Primary Care

I am a reader. It’s not just a side hobby for me, but something I prioritize in my daily life. Given the limited number of hours in a day and the high volume of activities competing for those hours, it can be a challenge to find reading time. With that in mind, I am usually very careful in vetting the books I read so I’m not wasting my time on crap.

Recently, I eschewed my usual selection process and made an impulse buy of a book whose title caught my eye. I would never judge a book by its cover, but I will sometimes judge it by its title. American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald had just the right autumn-sounding vibe I was looking for to get the season started. What could be more Fall than Johnny Appleseed and hiking a wooded trail?

Friends, I’d like to refer you back to the subtitle of this book, specifically the word “walking.”  You see, while the author does do some walking, he also quite often jumps in a white Jeep named Rabbit and takes off down the road, driving, not walking. American Motorer: Driving Around Looking for Johnny Appleseed Stuff would have been a more apt title. It was definitely not the book I thought I was buying.

Today is the start of the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge, sponsored once again by Talem Health. For a few days this week, we hope you will take a break from driving and give your legs a workout. Whether you’re rambling around the woods or training for a marathon, all our welcome to join and participate. Here are all the details you need to know.

• The challenge begins today (Monday, October 12) and will go until the end of the day on Sunday, October 18
• The challenge is to record at least 10,000 steps in one day. For each day during the challenge period that you record 10,000 steps, please send in a screenshot of your step-counting device with the number of recorded steps, either by email (thecmeguy@gmail.com) or text (267-666-0CME [0263]). Please include the following information:
  • Screenshot of number of steps
  • Date of steps
  • Name
  • Email
  • Physical mailing address (we need this to send you merch)
  • T-shirt size
• For each day you achieve 10,000 steps and send in a screenshot, you will be entered into a random drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card (there are five gift cards; you cannot win more than one.) Winners will be drawn during the week of CMEpalooza Fall. You can send them in each day individually, or you can send them all in at once at the end. It doesn’t matter to me.
• The person who records and submits the most steps in one day wins a $250 Amazon gift card
• Please send in your steps by 5 pm ET on Monday, October 19
• Everyone who enters for even one day will receive this sweet CMEpalooza performance t-shirt courtesy of Talem Health.
  

Thanks everyone and good luck!

CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge sponsored by: