Publish or Perish

Publishing is important in academia, as the old canard “publish or perish” reminds us. It is a daunting task to select the main research mentor to train you for the second half of hematology fellowship and beyond. However, writing up an interesting case is one way for trainees at all stages to gain experience with mentorship and publishing. Through this process, trainees can audition mentors to see how well they work together. Additionally, trainees will learn more about the process of manuscript writing and submission, and generally will end up with a case report or image to add to their resumes.

Here are a few resources to consider when publishing hematology-related case reports or images:

• Blood: Blood Work. Peripheral smears with a brief case description are the most frequent images here. The journal also does an intermittent section called Blood Consult that is more like a case report. See also ASH Image Bank.
• NEJM: Images in Clinical Medicine. This is the canonical source for images with a brief 150-word description of the clinical scenario; blood smears are featured frequently.
• JCO: Diagnosis in Oncology. This section of the journal focuses more on case reports, but images are generally very important.