The "How are things going in this forum" discussion

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

As many of you may have noticed from the other thread, there are some current issues surrounding the moderation style of this particular forum.

Historically, the area mod staff have been trusted to choose the most appropriate style for the area. Over the last few years the "anything goes" style has been prevalent. It has become apparent in retrospect that the "anything goes" style and lack of active moderation was an open and unattended door for CRNA trolls. During that time there were occasional but persistent complaints that made their way to non-Anesthesia staff, but we were assured that the vast majority of users liked the status-quo.

It is becoming apparent as of late that the desire for a more moderated environment is growing and that there are some new issues coming up, where users who belong here are saying that they come onto the boards as new residents or med students and are basically intimidated into not wanting to participate. From what I have been told, some of them have been chewed out directly while others just read the board discussion and don't want to be a part of it because they are sure that they will get bashed. In the past, most complaints centered around language or simple personal squabbles.

That said, I'd like to open the door for a discussion. I want to know what you like and what you dislike about this forum. What could be done to improve your experience? What is happening now that you don't want to see stop? Once we know what the issues and opinions are, we can work together to figure out what the best balance is for everyone and how we should work to achieve that balance.

All opinions are welcome in this thread. Disagreement is welcome too, but please keep it respectful. Everyone needs to be able to say their peace.

intruder alert

I'll take that as one vote for "I like things as they are now."

Originally Posted by bananaface

I'll take that as one vote for "I like things as they are now."

That's a great idea.

This is an anonymous forum. How are people intimidated??

I do not post often, but I read this forum daily. Anesthesiologists are a "different breed" within the grand scheme of medicine. We are ususally more laid back than other physicians. I like the fact that we can openly discuss a wide range of topics on this forum, both on topic and off topic. I do not always agree with the comments posted, but that is life. I have learned more about the business and political aspects of anesthesia from this forum than I did in residency. This forum was an extremely valuable tool during my job selection process. Please leave it the way it is.
Thanks.

a vote for "as it is", with a little more thought to replies that basically say "how could you be so dumb?".

I've been a lurker on this forum for quite some time and I don't think I can express just how much of an impact this forum has on medical students who are considering Anesthesiology. The combination of clinical and personal threads and discussions is second to none in my opinion and really helps medical students get a glimpse of what the field and people in the field are like.

Coming from someone who is often too intimidated to chime in out of fear of revealing my own ignorance, I can say with absolute certainty that the style of this forum is a rare gem of anonymous internet forums and should be left as is.

The moderators and regular contributors have my thanks not only for fueling interest in a field I now love but also for helping me stand out in real life with everything I've learned from reading the various clinical threads and pearls scattered throughout this forum

Originally Posted by gnomemage7

I can say with absolute certainty that the style of this forum is a rare gem of anonymous internet forums and should be left as is.

I agree. This forum is more true to life than most others and thats a good thing! Its pretty much the same as being in the hospital. Sometimes you're gonna do or say something dumb and usually someone will point it out. We're still learning and it happens to everyone. Its not personal. Leave the forum as it is. Change nothing.

I am an often-reader and seldom-poster. I really like the forum as it stands. There are some strong, opinionated personalities on this forum, but I've never felt that anyone was intentionally intimidating someone else or trying to silence a dissenting voice.

I say leave the forum as it is.

Originally Posted by leagueelbow

This is an anonymous forum. How are people intimidated??

I can give you some examples.

From what I understand, people are generally put-off by the perceived likelihood of personal attack or by past personal attacks. Some people have said that noobs get beat up on for asking the application related questions that come up yearly or for asking a "dumb" question while early in practice. Other people have said that they do not post because they are certain that they will be attacked any one of the regulars disagree with an opinion that they express. Those who practice outside of Anesthesia and want to ask questions also say that they are not comfortable doing so for fear of being labeled an outsider and told to take their ball and go home. Also, people who object to the status quo are often told that they are essentially ******* and need to learn to deal with the real world.

Being anonymous doesn't change people's reactions to those sort of things. It has also been pointed out to me in a recent PM that Anesthesia is a small enough community that anonymity can't be guaranteed.

I am not advocating that things be one way or another. But, I do advocate that people listen to each others viewpoints and try to do what is best for the community as a whole.

Jet and I have always welcomed outsiders....One of my posts even said something to the fact that there is no point to this forum without a surgeon's opinion.


Hell, I even welcome the non MD providers.....who get regularly banned.

Originally Posted by bananaface

I can give you some examples.

From what I understand, people are generally put-off by the perceived likelihood of personal attack or by past personal attacks. Some people have said that noobs get beat up on for asking the application related questions that come up yearly or for asking a "dumb" question while early in practice. Other people have said that they do not post because they are certain that they will be attacked any one of the regulars disagree with an opinion that they express. Those who practice outside of Anesthesia and want to ask questions also say that they are not comfortable doing so for fear of being labeled an outsider and told to take their ball and go home. Also, people who object to the status quo are often told that they are essentially ******* and need to learn to deal with the real world.

Being anonymous doesn't change people's reactions to those sort of things. It has also been pointed out to me in a recent PM that Anesthesia is a small enough community that anonymity can't be guaranteed.

I am not advocating that things be one way or another. But, I do advocate that people listen to each others viewpoints and try to do what is best for the community as a whole.

People need thicker skin. Whoever said this forum is a rare gem on SDN is absolutely correct. The topics discussed are far and wide. The clinical topics are unbelievably valuable. Also, you'd be hard pressed to find a forum where its attendings give you invaluable advice on how to succeed after residency. I read some other forums on SDN and easily get bored after about 5 min, but I can spend an easy hour a day reading the anesthesia forum. Please leave the moderators here alone and let them continue as is.

[QUOTE=bananaface;7069554] Also, people who object to the status quo are often told that they are essentially ******* and need to learn to deal with the real world.QUOTE]

I think that only in the anesthesiology forum can a moderator say "*******" without offending the general population. Try that in the OB/GYN forum, and you get scolded for not using the word "vagina".
I love this place!

Originally Posted by bananaface

Also, people who object to the status quo are often told that they are essentially ******* and need to learn to deal with the real world.

Ahh to be a 3rd year medical student all over again

Originally Posted by bananaface

That said, I'd like to open the door for a discussion.

I think it's funny that you're expecting posts in this thread from a group of people who have identified themselves as too intimidated to post.

The forum is great the way it is. Let our mods do their job, and let the "# viewing" figures speak for themselves. Right now there are 50 viewing the anesthesiology forum. Surgery is a distant second with 28, ER is third with 26, and "general residency issues" which includes EVERYBODY else is fourth with 21 viewing.

Seems to me that the non-anesthesia mods could learn something from the most popular forum in the physician community.

I vote keep it as is. I read this post daily and feel that it is entertaining way to relax after a long day.

I can assume people who are "intimidated" are often scolded for asking questions that can easily be answered in the FAQs, a search, or with a quick look in the good old textbook whether they happen to be trolls, med students, or pre-meds.

I enjoy what the regulars have to say in their candid approach. I feel that this forum would be lame if new moderators would try to prevent people from being "intimidated."

Originally Posted by leagueelbow

Ahh to be a 3rd year medical student all over again

leave it as is!!!!!

I think this forum allows for open & honest discussions on many interesting topics.

Love the "REAL WORLD" discussions...and the strong personalities!

I've enjoyed reading and posting on this forum.

I do agree that you need a thick skin and there are situations where the post can get quite dramatic.....

but.... Why let someone on the internet who you don't even know get to you? don't get too attached, it is just a forum.

have fun & post ladies and gents!

Originally Posted by militarymd

Jet and I have always welcomed outsiders....One of my posts even said something to the fact that there is no point to this forum without a surgeon's opinion.


Hell, I even welcome the non MD providers.....who get regularly banned.

Yeah, I saw the greeting up-thread.

I'm just telling you all what has come through in complaints. Having a few key players being welcoming of outsiders is a good thing, but it's apparently not enough to set the tone for the forum. What I often here is "Oh, I can't go in there. I'll get eaten alive." And, this is from people who are from all stages of practice, not just unseasoned people in early practice.

My honest impression is that this is a forum in denial. Most people like things the way they are and they don't want them to change. I get that. I respect that. But, I am also concerned when complaints come through that indicate to me that the majority base, intentions aside, has made many people who belong here feel unwelcome. For the past couple of years the staff has told the admins that those who don't like the way things are is a teeny tiny minority. So, we let it go. But, it is now obvious that the proportion of people who have a beef with the way things are going is WAY higher than we believed. What I am not convinced of at this point in time is that the things that the community rallies around and loves are the same things that turn others off.

Originally Posted by bananaface

It is becoming apparent as of late that the desire for a more moderated environment is growing and that there are some new issues coming up, where users who belong here are saying that they come onto the boards as new residents or med students and are basically intimidated into not wanting to participate....

That said, I'd like to open the door for a discussion. I want to know what you like and what you dislike about this forum. What could be done to improve your experience? What is happening now that you don't want to see stop? Once we know what the issues and opinions are, we can work together to figure out what the best balance is for everyone and how we should work to achieve that balance.

There are a few principles I think the SDN super-administrators need to understand about running this board within the overall SDN forums.

You must keep the anesthesiologists happy, because without the regular contributions with perspectives from those who've finished medical school and residency, this forum would be useless. Some of them aren't the most gentle when it comes to words. They are the ones most likely to bash heads with you persistently. They are also the ones most likely to donate money. Try not to pi$$ anyone off who's willing to donate time and money to your site -- that's bad form. If you make these valuable contributors angry and they disappear, everyone else will lose out.

You must allow a moderate degree of bickering, because believe it or not, CONTROVERSY is one of those things that keeps people coming back for more. Without some debate, you have a board without the steam to remain active.

Medical students (and residents) are more than welcome to ask questions and we all try to answer them as best we can.

Medical students are NOT expected to contribute a lot of CLINICAL insight into patient management for the "cases" discussed here. It is to be expected that a medical student or a resident who has relatively less experience than forum participants more experienced in their career, may feel less confident saying "I would do _____ to handle this case." This is appropriate. And the participants who want to sink their teeth into a juicy case should be spared the irritation of, say, a pre-med student trolling the thread and contributing less than valuable clinical "advice."

This forum is ACTIVE and engenders lots of good clinical and practical career tips and is therefore not a failure but a SUCCESS. So please leave this forum alone as for the most part it is doing very well. It has a growing community and the number of anesthesiologists who've completed residency has at least DOUBLED in the past few months. Nowhere else on SDN do you have a decent number of fully trained physicians who are contributing not just career advice but clinical discussion as well. This is valuable. Don't mess with it.

The more you try to "fix" the politics, the more time you'll waste in front of your computer. You'll have a labile blood pressure, your heart rate is going to go up and down, you'll have fits of anger and sleepless nights because you're so pi$$ed off you can't get to sleep. That's not healthy for you and it gives your participating anesthesiologists more reason to be pi$$ed off at you. You will get regular eruptions and months of headache that waxes and wanes, you'll forget about it and then you'll get another flame war. So forget about "fixing" the anesthesiology forum and leave it alone, so the rest of us can gain from it.

Can you be more specific in defining "often"?

once a day...once a week....once a month...?...and relative to the activity of the other forums.

As I used to tell my residents....without data, it's hard to decide what you should do.

Originally Posted by bananaface

Yeah, I saw the greeting up-thread.

I'm just telling you all what has come through in complaints. Having a few key players being welcoming of outsiders is a good thing, but it's apparently not enough to set the tone for the forum. What I often here is "Oh, I can't go in there. I'll get eaten alive." And, this is from people who are from all stages of practice, not just unseasoned people in early practice.

My honest impression is that this is a forum in denial. Most people like things the way they are and they don't want them to change. I get that. I respect that. But, I am also concerned when complaints come through that indicate to me that the majority base, intentions aside, has made many people who belong here feel unwelcome. For the past couple of years the staff has told the admins that those who don't like the way things are is a teeny tiny minority. So, we let it go. But, it is now obvious that the proportion of people who have a beef with the way things are going is WAY higher than we believed. What I am not convinced of at this point in time is that the things that the community rallies around and loves are the same things that turn others off.

Here is my take on this forum, as a medical student:

The clinical discussions on this forum are excellent, and almost always at a CA-1 or above level. This is appropriate, since the field is one that is difficult to relate to unless you are a PGY-2 or above practicing in the OR every day.

Many of the pre-med/med student posts to the forum are questions that have been answered over and over again, and are specifically addressed in the (excellent) FAQs. I don't buy the "If you don't like the attitude of this forum then you're not cut out for the specialty" argument since posters here are a tiny, aggressive, and overwhelmingly male faction of anesthesiologists.

Overall, I think the forum is great the way it is. I personally take issue with individual posts by certain mods/forums seniors, but it is also those same contributors who offer great clinical/real world advice for the young'uns here.

Originally Posted by bananaface

What I often here is "Oh, I can't go in there. I'll get eaten alive." And, this is from people who are from all stages of practice, not just unseasoned people in early practice.

My recollection is that the people who get eaten alive are the ones who post without doing their homework ("what does an anesthesiologist do?" "what Step I score do I need to match in X") and/or post well-meaning but trollish questions ("why do anesthesiologists get paid so much, etc)

If you want to change something about the forum ... and all these forums ... I think some sort of new member orientation course would be nice. Help people learn how things work, how to use a search feature, expectations, etc.

Originally Posted by jennyboo

There are a few principles I think the SDN super-administrators need to understand about running this board within the overall SDN forums.

You must keep the anesthesiologists happy, because without the regular contributions with perspectives from those who've finished medical school and residency, this forum would be useless. Some of them aren't the most gentle when it comes to words. They are the ones most likely to bash heads with you persistently. They are also the ones most likely to donate money. Try not to pi$$ anyone off who's willing to donate time and money to your site -- that's bad form. If you make these valuable contributors angry and they disappear, everyone else will lose out.

You must allow a moderate degree of bickering, because believe it or not, CONTROVERSY is one of those things that keeps people coming back for more. Without some debate, you have a board without the steam to remain active.

Medical students (and residents) are more than welcome to ask questions and we all try to answer them as best we can.

Medical students are NOT expected to contribute a lot of CLINICAL insight into patient management for the "cases" discussed here. It is to be expected that a medical student or a resident who has relatively less experience than forum participants more experienced in their career, may feel less confident saying "I would do _____ to handle this case." This is appropriate. And the participants who want to sink their teeth into a juicy case should be spared the irritation of, say, a pre-med student trolling the thread and contributing less than valuable clinical "advice."

This forum is ACTIVE and engenders lots of good clinical and practical career tips and is therefore not a failure but a SUCCESS. So please leave this forum alone as for the most part it is doing very well. It has a growing community and the number of anesthesiologists who've completed residency has at least DOUBLED in the past few months. Nowhere else on SDN do you have a decent number of fully trained physicians who are contributing not just career advice but clinical discussion as well. This is valuable. Don't mess with it.

The more you try to "fix" the politics, the more time you'll waste in front of your computer. You'll have a labile blood pressure, your heart rate is going to go up and down, you'll have fits of anger and sleepless nights because you're so pi$$ed off you can't get to sleep. That's not healthy for you and it gives your participating anesthesiologists more reason to be pi$$ed off at you. You will get regular eruptions and months of headache that waxes and wanes, you'll forget about it and then you'll get another flame war. So forget about "fixing" the anesthesiology forum and leave it alone, so the rest of us can gain from it.

I agree with you on those points, except for the last one. The forums - all of them - change over time in response to the needs of the forum users. My role here is not to "fix" the forum politics. My role is to raise awareness. This schizm has been around for a long time and has almost taken on urban legend status in the minds of some people. If people don't take the initiative to heal it, it's community members who will lose out.

Originally Posted by bananaface

As many of you may have noticed from the other thread, there are some current issues surrounding the moderation style of this particular forum.

Historically, the area mod staff have been trusted to choose the most appropriate style for the area. Over the last few years the "anything goes" style has been prevalent. It has become apparent in retrospect that the "anything goes" style and lack of active moderation was an open and unattended door for CRNA trolls. During that time there were occasional but persistent complaints that made their way to non-Anesthesia staff, but we were assured that the vast majority of users liked the status-quo.

It is becoming apparent as of late that the desire for a more moderated environment is growing and that there are some new issues coming up, where users who belong here are saying that they come onto the boards as new residents or med students and are basically intimidated into not wanting to participate. From what I have been told, some of them have been chewed out directly while others just read the board discussion and don't want to be a part of it because they are sure that they will get bashed. In the past, most complaints centered around language or simple personal squabbles.

That said, I'd like to open the door for a discussion. I want to know what you like and what you dislike about this forum. What could be done to improve your experience? What is happening now that you don't want to see stop? Once we know what the issues and opinions are, we can work together to figure out what the best balance is for everyone and how we should work to achieve that balance.

All opinions are welcome in this thread. Disagreement is welcome too, but please keep it respectful. Everyone needs to be able to say their peace.

Don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord split ya

This appears to be the beginning of the end of a good thing.

it DID make me choke on my own spit laughing

Originally Posted by Noyac

This appears to be the beginning of the end of a good thing.

We could always secede and benefit a good cause at the same time.

As a med student who plays in this forum, threads like this are more annoying and upsetting than anything I’ve read where someone got pounced on. This forum has a good thing going on, and suddenly we’ve got all these threads saying that the sky is falling and we’ve got to slash and burn this forum if we want it to survive. There’s apparently an army of silent people who are so paralyzed by the fear that they won’t get a positive response to their question, that rather than take a chance, they run to the mods and cry “no-joy.” I think everyone should be included, but come on, do we need a campfire and a round of Kumbaya before people feel free to speak up?

I find it odd people are actively trying to destroy a good thing based on the premise of making something "more accessible"

Maybe parting ways and coming up with a private anesthesia website isn't such a bad idea.

You never miss something until it's gone anyway.

Originally Posted by Pilot Doc

We could always secede and benefit a good cause at the same time.

*laff* I'm sure it's a good cause....

But we'll be paying $1000 to have an invisible forum that no one else knows about and no one else can find and that'll get no fresh business ever again. Bad deal.

Originally Posted by bananaface

What I often here is "Oh, I can't go in there. I'll get eaten alive."

Often is a relative word. At present:

46 Anesthesiology
27 Surgery
23 ER
21 Int Med
18 General Residency

Even if you got twice as many complaints about this forum as any other, that would be nothing more than expected. This is consistently by far the most heavily trafficked forum.

I'm with militarymd. Show us some data, or give us something more specific than "some guys said they were too scared to post" ... or go away.

Leave the forum alone. Anyone "intimidated" by this forum is an embarrassment to the medical profession. Get a grip people...

Intimidated? I'm an M1 and I like this forum the way it is and have never felt intimidated to post.

Originally Posted by DwightKShrute

Maybe parting ways and coming up with a private anesthesia website isn't such a bad idea.

It is a bad idea because this forum benefits from the greater SDN site as a source of readers and posters (at least, the ones who aren't too intimidated to post).

Originally Posted by militarymd

Can you be more specific in defining "often"?

once a day...once a week....once a month...?...and relative to the activity of the other forums.

As I used to tell my residents....without data, it's hard to decide what you should do.

Good questions.

This is the only forum within the academic area of SDN (read: outside of the unmoderated Lounge areas) that has regularly generated user complaints about moderation-style decisions over the past few years. I'm not always the one getting the complaint and our staff kind of gave up on passing complaints on for awhile, so I can't simply count them up. The conservative ballpark would be once or twice a month on average. Distribution would be maybe every 6-8 weeks with a few spurts in there for periods of unrest. Most other areas get no complaints. Probably 2-3 per year for all of the other areas combined is normal. And, we adjust per user input and move on when that happens.

In terms of direct-to-area-staff member complaints that are not addressed, we average one reported post every 3 days. 85% of those would be actionable by regular forum standards. In the past 2 years the area staff have issued 7 infractions. 3 of those were bans that later got reversed because someone was incorrectly thought to be a CRNA troll. There were about 14 other infractions by non-area staff, mostly troll bans.

Originally Posted by pgg

Often is a relative word. At present:

46 Anesthesiology
27 Surgery
23 ER
21 Int Med
18 General Residency

Even if you got twice as many complaints about this forum as any other, that would be nothing more than expected. This is consistently by far the most heavily trafficked forum.

I'm with militarymd. Show us some data, or give us something more specific than "some guys said they were too scared to post" ... or go away.

Sorry. It took awhile to compile the information requested.

so it sounds like the issues have been related to the non-MD's who frequent the forum...because those are the folks who get banned.....who, by the way, I'm one of the few who welcome them.

Between me and you, banana, I think this is all crap that is being stirred up by our megalomaniac friend (plank)...who is unhappy with the forum because it is not what HE wants it to be.

It appears to me that things are fine.

Here is my point of view if anyone cares:
Over the past 2 years I became more and more involved with the discussions on this forum, I learned a great deal from everyone and I enjoyed the company of many people, I also hope that I taught some people a thing or two.
There were times when I engaged in heated discussions with certain people, and I have to admit that I let it get ugly on several occasions, I don't deny it, I have strong opinions on certain subjects and I am very passionate about my views.
When I was asked to participate in moderating this forum I felt privileged and I sincerely wanted to contribute to improving things and was happy to volunteer my time.
I don't believe in censorship and I truly think that everyone should be allowed to contribute their opinion but on the other hand if I am going to participate in moderating this forum I have to do my job and my job is to address complaints from members.
It actually came to my attention that these complaints where being ignored in the past if they were about certain people and in my opinion this is not appropriate.
Since MMD is the issue here and since I had my disagreements with him in the past I chose to transmit this complaint to the other mods except Jet since the person who complained asked specifically not to involve jet, because he felt that he can not be impartial.
I did not recommend or suggest any action against anyone and i tried my best to stay impartial.
I was told by administration staff that this is not the first time this happens and that there was a pattern of people complaining against MMD and being ignored.
This is the reason behind the Poll because I wanted to know if we are actually terrifying people unnecessarily.
I have no personal agenda here and I tried my best to do the right thing.
If the forum feels that I did not perform as expected then I will be glad to limit my involvement to a distant observer with all my best wishes to every one with whom I had the privilege to interact over the past 2 years.
You guys are great colleagues.

.

Just as I suspected.....All of this because of a PERSONAL dislike that a moderater has against a member....

At least I was mature enough to not accept moderater powers.

I think this site has excellent mods. Been a long time lurker and have only recently asked some elementary questions, all of which were answered. Much appreciation to those who took the time to do so.

I think the site is handled very well. No complaints.

Jet walks in, looks around the room....

"UHHHHHHHHHH, DID SOMEBODY GET ARRESTED?

Originally Posted by jetproppilot

Jet walks in, looks around the room....

"UHHHHHHHHHH, DID SOMEBODY GET ARRESTED?

Seems like Mommy called the cops on Daddy for calling her a Ho. Did this sum up everything?

the sense of intimidation that "may" come from this forum is actually an obscure form of intelligence. The hesistancy comes from almostly knowing something but not wanting to be wrong (or proven wrong)...so what do you do...THINK IT OVER TWICE...whats wrong with that?

Think it over twice, three times and ...know it. Any site/forum that helps you learn its a tremendous success...i have learned alot from this forum.

As far as dynamics...the clashing debates between the mods/attendings is what makes this site FUN. like hearing both sides of an argument with both intelligent experienced anesthesiologists.

taking away heat from boring academic topics is a disaster

Originally Posted by Brian Fantana

Seems like Mommy called the cops on Daddy for calling her a Ho. Did this sum up everything?

dude, this is the second time in the same day that you made me choke on my spit laughing......

I'm may have to report you.

I'm not sure what else I can add that has not already been said by others. I regularly visit this forum, and while I do not often post it's certainly not due to intimidation. Most of the clinical discussions I find interesting, but as has been stated most are at the CA-1+ level. As an MSIII I usually can't contribute much to the clinical discussion but the observation is invaluable.

As far as others being intimidated by the more brusque style that some on this forum have . . . I agree they need to get over it. Most of the people who get "bashed" are asking questions that have been covered in the FAQ's or simply don't have a place here "ZOMG I heard like anesthesiologists make madz bank, but aren't you guys doing nursing's job and spend a lot of time doing crosswords lol?"

Perhaps this is biased, but I think if someone is a regularly contributing member, offering insight into residency, private practice, academic practice (heck even just medical school) and occasionally is too direct or aggressive toward people asking questions that have been answered in the FAQ's or aren't appropriate . . . well I say cut them some slack. They certainly deserve the benefit of the doubt over someone with 5 posts who jumps in here with an inflammatory or ignorant post.

There are lots of very legitimate questions that can be asked once one has exhausted his or her own resources. In fact, I would expect medical professionals (or future medical professionals) to be able to do a little legwork to answer their own questions. If, once this research is complete, one still has a question then those questions are welcomed here with open arms. Tricky clinical questions (usually without one right answer), life on the other side of residency, etc . . . there are an endless variety of good questions. As far as all the "not strictly anesthesia stuff" that's on this board I think it gives more perspective on anesthesiologists, their personalities, likes, etc. This too is valuable. Besides, plenty of other forums have threads like this (I will cite the post padding threads on the EM forum).

Please leave a good thing alone. It isn't possible to please everyone, but I dread the day more heavy handed moderation comes to the anesthesia forum. It'll be the day this forum dies.

Intimidation and people being afraid to ask certain things isn't necessarily bad. I made a post on the FAQ section specifically about board scores and programs. I made this post b/c the original one was 4 years old and I thought things needed to be updated slightly. However, at least once a month I read a post on I have board score x, what kind of programs should I apply to or something siimilar. People need to understand that if you post something stupid w/out reading the FAQ or doing a simple search, you will get flamed. If you can't take it down't post. I'm more than OK isolating a coupla posters b/c their feeling got hurt than ruin a very good forum. I'd rather not have an open forum where the same question gets asked over and over b/c no one ever reads the FAQ or does a search.

Originally Posted by Planktonmd

Here is my point of view if anyone cares:
Over the past 2 years I became more and more involved with the discussions on this forum, I learned a great deal from everyone and I enjoyed the company of many people, I also hope that I taught some people a thing or two.
There were times when I engaged in heated discussions with certain people, and I have to admit that I let it get ugly on several occasions, I don't deny it, I have strong opinions on certain subjects and I am very passionate about my views.
When I was asked to participate in moderating this forum I felt privileged and I sincerely wanted to contribute to improving things and was happy to volunteer my time.
I don't believe in censorship and I truly think that everyone should be allowed to contribute their opinion but on the other hand if I am going to participate in moderating this forum I have to do my job and my job is to address complaints from members.
It actually came to my attention that these complaints where being ignored in the past if they were about certain people and in my opinion this is not appropriate.
Since MMD is the issue here and since I had my disagreements with him in the past I chose to transmit this complaint to the other mods except Jet since the person who complained asked specifically not to involve jet, because he felt that he can not be impartial.
I did not recommend or suggest any action against anyone and i tried my best to stay impartial.
I was told by administration staff that this is not the first time this happens and that there was a pattern of people complaining against MMD and being ignored.
This is the reason behind the Poll because I wanted to know if we are actually terrifying people unnecessarily.
I have no personal agenda here and I tried my best to do the right thing.
If the forum feels that I did not perform as expected then I will be glad to limit my involvement to a distant observer with all my best wishes to every one with whom I had the privilege to interact over the past 2 years.
You guys are great colleagues.

LAME...
who is actually taking the time to complain about anything on sdn?
who is actually intimidated to post even the stupidest question on an anonymous forum?
most crazy, who becomes a moderator with this agenda against someone who posts a lot and keeps things interesting? what did he hurt your feelings? my god..

Originally Posted by militarymd

Just as I suspected.....All of this because of a PERSONAL dislike that a moderater has against a member....

At least I was mature enough to not accept moderater powers.

I think what he was saying is that, because he couldn't be impartial (any moreso than JPP can coming from the other side), he forwarded the issues to the other mods in SDN so they could handle it. That way, neither he nor JPP would have a dog in the race, so to speak.

BTW, your being such an a s s hole on here wouldn't fly anyplace where you weren't one of the alpha males. From my own personal experience in the military and as a professional for many years before med school, I can tell that u were/are a supreme butt-kisser to those above you, and a supreme jerk to those you think are below you.

Not that you're capable of correcting your obvious inability to provide a straight answer without deriding someone, but if you did, it would solve many of the problems that have come to light in recent days

It is one thing to be straightforward with responses. It is quite another to seem to take sadistic joy in verbally deriding people. You seem to enjoy lowering other people's self-esteem. Maybe so yours can be relatively better?

Now, you and your fellow silverback buddies go to the highest mountaintop, beat your chests, proclaim me an idiot, and express your narcissistic perfection to all of your sycophantic friends -- as has been your modus operandi. Then, when you're finished, you can have this place as your private club. I'm sure that'd be fine by you.

OK silverback neanderthals, flame away.

Originally Posted by jetproppilot

Jet walks in, looks around the room....

"UHHHHHHHHHH, DID SOMEBODY GET ARRESTED?

Yeah, but he's your buddy so I'm sure you'll bail him out.

Don't give me the crap about how long mil has been on this forum or how dedicated he is or how infrequently I post vs. mil. I don't give a flying F u c k. His jerkhole manner of "sharing" his knowledge is tiring to many too timid to say so.

I kept quiet for too long because I thought he may be sharing knowledge out of the desire to further anesthesiology. Now I see it is simply his version of preening in front of a mirror.

Did that all without using big fonts too . . . slim.