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Brian Elliott

@brianelliottmd.bsky.social

160 followers 67 following 110 posts

Boy Dad. Pulm/CC fellow. #POCUS #meded #histmed writer/researcher. Author of White Coat Ways. Trying to create a more sensical research publishing model at RJmedicine.org

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Apr 5

Research published by for-profit companies has nearly tripled, causing ⬆️ APCs and 💰 paywalls

We started a nonprofit journal where you can publish and review for charity, or even get paid to peer review.

Because research should be shared—not sold.

RJmedicine.org

#medSky #research #academicSky

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

Ultimately, the power to distribute educational materials through vibe coding is HUGE. You can make an aesthetic, practical website for it in a few days. But keep the projects small, ideally internal, and be sure to always review legal and security measures it made
#AI #meded

two men are standing next to each other and talking about harness energy , block bad .

ALT: two men are standing next to each other and talking about harness energy , block bad .

media.tenor.com

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

Knowing 0 code can lead to $$ by a thousand papercuts. I spent $12 developing this site (plus any deployment maintenance costs I incur), but I edited a lot of small things because they were easy and would save me $0.05-$0.30 per edit, which adds up when you edit 100 small things.

a man is holding two cell phones with the words it does cost more money behind him

ALT: a man is holding two cell phones with the words it does cost more money behind him

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

Now, can you do this without knowing any code at all? YES! I was really surprised and impressed with how well it developed and added features, plus Replit does seem better prepared than others to handle secrets and maintain security best practices, but there's one caveat:

a penguin is sitting on a desk with the words it 's no good i don 't know the codes

ALT: a penguin is sitting on a desk with the words it 's no good i don 't know the codes

media.tenor.com

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

So ask it! Prompt: "Make the website comply with all international laws for websites". Attach it to a separate entity if you are able. And make sure no copyrighted materials, illegal links, or other illegal materials are on your site.

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

As SOON as you gather user data, you are REQUIRED to add a privacy policy, cookie banner, terms, etc. The default is that the site is connected to you (and not an entity separate from personal assets), meaning fines and/or lawsuits for mishandling data could fall to YOU.

a man wearing sunglasses and a hat is talking into an nfl microphone

ALT: a man wearing sunglasses and a hat is talking into an nfl microphone

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

After I asked for the main architecture and added the major features, I had a working prototype without writing a single line of code myself. It didn't look half-bad, and I was blown away by the speed... until I realized that the website was breaking multiple laws...

a man in a wig says okay well in front of a door

ALT: a man in a wig says okay well in front of a door

media.tenor.com

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

It helps to know some architecture. I specifically asked for a react and express setup, and I'm not sure what it would've done if I hadn't. If you don't know about them, you should consult with an LLM about the best architecture for your purpose BEFORE a single line of code

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

I built the POCUS website feature by feature. Main framework and curriculum pathway that connects to the database -> add auth -> add groups -> add an instructor dashboard for the groups -> and so on

a close up of a man 's face with the words " brick by brick " below him

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words " brick by brick " below him

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

To start, build feature by feature

❌ Don't say "build me duolingo but for POCUS"

✅ Say "Build me a POCUS website with **exactly the main feature you want and exactly how you picture it** using a *** framework"

Trying to one-shot it makes an absolute mess of bugs and errors

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

First, #meded vibe coding is good for SMALL, SIMPLE extensions for curricula or assessments like this.

It is NOT good for large, integrated platforms that connect to external APIs. These are HUGE security threats if you don't understand them.

a man in a white suit says keep it simple but make it amazing

ALT: a man in a white suit says keep it simple but make it amazing

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 29

In <12 hours of work, I transformed our #POCUS curriculum into an async pathway with duolingo-like features and instructor dashboards.

Vibe-coding may simultaneously be the most powerful #meded tool today BUT the easiest way to get into legal trouble.

Here's how to harness it🧵

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 7

Outstanding work that shows immense scientific fraud. “For instance, of the 79 papers that one editor had handled at PLOS ONE, 49 have been retracted” HOW are journals not catching this?!
#research #academicSky #MedSky

www.science.org/content/arti...

Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds

Sophisticated global networks are infiltrating journals to publish fake papers

www.science.org

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

It’s time that we in #meded ask ourselves if churning out pubs is educationally beneficial for medical students, or if we can reshape the system to reward a focus on quality rather than quantity

a man says quality over quantity in a video

ALT: a man says quality over quantity in a video

media.tenor.com

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

Ultimately we found a dramatic increase in the quantity of medical student publications with pretty flat metrics on quality. All while costs to publish are rising which can be a huge burden for those trying to match into competitive specialties.

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

💸 An increasing cost burden:
In 2012, we estimated only 3.7% of student papers were in journals with required fees.
By 2022? 14.8%.
That’s nearly a 4x increase in pay-to-publish trends for student work.

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

📝 Study types shifted:
• Case reports ↓ from 26% → 14%
• Perspective/opinion pieces ↑ from 6% → 23%

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

📊 Journal quality (by Scimago Rank) had a very small increase:
Median SJR rose from 0.470 → 0.630
(For reference NEJMs rank is 19, JGMEs is 1.1)
But…
🧵 23% of all articles were never cited even once.

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

Over the ‘12-‘22 span, 5,181 med student-authored articles were included.
🧑‍🎓 50% listed a student as first author
📉 That % actually dropped from 63% → 48% over time
So more papers, but proportionally fewer led by students.

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 5

We analyzed every PubMed publication from 2012-2022 attributed to a #medicalstudent. They increased by 1,329%! But did quality grow too? A thread on publication pressure, perspective pieces, and publication fees
#MedEd
www.rjmedicine.org/publications...

Trends in Medical Student-Authored Publications, 2012-2022

Medical student research has dramatically increased over the last ten years The quality of medical student research has remained relatively stable over the last ten years Medical student research pers...

www.rjmedicine.org

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Aug 3

RJIM launched its first publications. The submissions are rolling in and we need peer reviewers if you can sign up! www.rjmedicine.org/instructions...

We’re a 501c3 nonprofit journal where research is shared - not sold.

#research #MedSky

bsky.app/profile/rjme...

Reposted by Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Jul 10

For my fellow #meded enthusiasts who do surveys and assessments, I built a one-stop website to do it all:
Build assessments
Get responses
Analyze psychometrics
Calculate statistical differences
Host gamified assessments
And more...

Let me show you the FREE MedEdAssessments.com

#MedSky #EMIMCC

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Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Jul 17

mededassessments.com now has two games: Jeopardy and the Conference Cup. The Conference Cup is up to four teams. A host runs the board with 3 questions to choose from. Teams take turns and use QR codes to access game cards for fun and randomness. Free to create, copy, or share! #meded #MedSky

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Jul 15

The first RJIM articles are coming out this fall! The submissions are coming in but we need more peer reviewers. Considering signing up, we have paid peer review opportunities open.

#meded #research #MedSky

www.rjmedicine.org/instructions...

Reviewer Instructions | RJIM

We provide instructions for peer reviewers at the Researchers' Journal of Internal Medicine. Our review process is slightly different, and we explain further details on being a peer reviewer.

www.rjmedicine.org

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Jul 14

🎯🎯🎯🎯
“…the strain on academic publishing could be substantially alleviated if funding agencies stipulated that the work they support must be published in non-profit journals”

#research #AcademicSky

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published

Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention

www.theguardian.com

Brian Elliott @brianelliottmd.bsky.social · Jul 10

mededassessments.com was built after my frustration with doing the same types of analyses over and over again. As long as data storage is reasonable, it will be a free home for my fellow #meded enthusiasts

Med Ed Assessments | test software

Med Ed Assessments is a free test software and open repository for creating, sharing, and performing statistical analyses on assessments in medical education

MedEdAssessments.com