Blogging as a Medical Student

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Does SDN still host blogs?

Also, how do people handle discussing patient stories? Composites, changing details, keeping it general?

I did do a search, but I couldn't find a topic that really discussed this. If there's one I missed, link me?
 
Or you could call a sex line and tell them everything you want to put on a blog...they can keep stuff confidential.
 
If there's no ethical way to do it, then I won't do it. But I've seen many blogs that seem to find a way, and I want to know if there is a respectful way to blog about that aspect of my education.
 
Can't be personally identifiable. Change the name, maybe the age, and something about the patient history.

If you happen to see the first case of smallpox in 30 years, you can't blog about that person without their permission.

If you want to talk about a patient who had a flu, you can talk about that as long as you don't give their real name, dob, etc.
 
On an offshoot... does anyone know any good med student blogs? I looked around a bit a while back but didn't find anything terribly compelling/amusing.
 
A week or so ago someone, possibly KevinMD listed the 15 (or whatever number) criteria for HIPPA-compliant blogging. It wasn't terribly cumbersome. If I come across it, I'll post a link.
 
shaggy alfresco said:
Can't be personally identifiable. Change the name, maybe the age, and something about the patient history
Click to expand...

While technically true, this is becoming a grey area as many institutions have begun to put into place "social networking" policies which forbid any sort of patient information (i.e. you can't even post on facebook "Got to sew a wicked face lac tonight! Kewl!") and if you toe the line too closely, you're bound the step over it occasionally. I'd avoid writing/blogging/facebooking about any one specific patient.

For me, writing/blogging is more about the visceral experience of the training process than the nitty gritty details of specific patient encounters. As a result, I tend to write my stories as a synthesis of several different patient experiences rather than one specific one. I found that's a good balance of allowing me to still write and reflect on my experiences which also preserving patient privacy.
 
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what about all the books and stuff written by doctors? All focus on specific cases for the most part
 
D elegans said:
On an offshoot... does anyone know any good med student blogs? I looked around a bit a while back but didn't find anything terribly compelling/amusing.
Click to expand...

I recommend Pandabear's blog if you haven't seen it yet. Most of his posts seem to be focused more on the residency experience, but it's still entertaining and I think he offers valuable insights into the American medical system. Be advised, though, that he is very political.

http://www.pandabearmd.com/
 
NickNaylor said:
I recommend Pandabear's blog if you haven't seen it yet. Most of his posts seem to be focused more on the residency experience, but it's still entertaining and I think he offers valuable insights into the American medical system. Be advised, though, that he is very political.

http://www.pandabearmd.com/
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Thanks! That's the only one I've seen before and I agree, parts are very entertaining. His "personal statement" was one of the funniest things I've read in a while. Unfortunately, it looks like he hasn't updated the site since 2009.
 
caltrain said:
Stumbled across this blog after reading the author in the LA Times. She just finished her first year at Harvard Med. Pretty interesting.

http://www.sharayurkiewicz.com/
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YAAAY I know her and she's every bit as amazing as her blog. 😍

Pretty sure her sister (also at Harvard Med! power siblings, I tell ya) keeps a blog too, but I can't find it at the moment...
 
D elegans said:
Thanks! That's the only one I've seen before and I agree, parts are very entertaining. His "personal statement" was one of the funniest things I've read in a while. Unfortunately, it looks like he hasn't updated the site since 2009.
Click to expand...

He no longer blogs... just hosts the old posts. It's definitely a great read for those that haven't gone through it, though.
 
NickNaylor said:
He no longer blogs... just hosts the old posts. It's definitely a great read for those that haven't gone through it, though.
Click to expand...

Panda does still blog -- just rarely. He's over at MDOD.

Love his writing and still read his old posts from time to time.
 
I used to do a small medical blog, but institutions are cracking down hard. Even if you don't specifically break a HIPAA rule, you can be reprimanded for being "unprofessional". Just mentioning a case/disease on your facebook page is enough to get you into trouble at my institution. There are even people paid to search for these infractions. As professionalism is highly subjective, it just isn't worth the risk for me, and I would advise you to stay away as well. I'm not saying you would get busted, but having invested so much into this career, is it worth the risk?

As you can see, I chose my second favorite topic to write about - Finance.
 
sdf
 
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JokerMD said:
definitely don't do anything that would put your career in danger

but i honestly don't see what the big deal is with all this confidentiality stuff. I agree that patients have the right to confidentiality, but getting in trouble for discussing a disease on facebook.....really????? 👎
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I agree, but a dean basically made this argument: if you talk about a disease on Facebook, he could look up my patient list and narrow down who I "could be" referring to. That is enough to be a problem.

He basically said to not put anything medical on the Internet to avoid infractions. I'm just passing that along.
 
Is it really worth it? Like other posters have mentioned, schools and hospitals are cracking down on this behavior and punishing would-be medical bloggers.

How about keeping a private journal of your thoughts? That way, you can write without fear of censorship or professional ramifications.

Why do you need to broadcast your musings to the world?
 
ZagDoc said:
you can't even post on facebook "Got to sew a wicked face lac tonight! Kewl!"
Click to expand...

aw 🙁 hoping that's never brought into our hospital... some of my classmates' updates are hilarious (-ly inappropriate)

ZagDoc said:
For me, writing/blogging is more about the visceral experience of the training process than the nitty gritty details of specific patient encounters. As a result, I tend to write my stories as a synthesis of several different patient experiences rather than one specific one. I found that's a good balance of allowing me to still write and reflect on my experiences which also preserving patient privacy.
Click to expand...

Agreed. keep the focus on yourself, not the patients and write about them en masse, as the background to what you're going through. It's a blog, not a gossip column... though it IS hard to think objectively about the appropriateness of what you write. I usually ask a classmate to let me know if they think I crossed the line.
 
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If you're going to blog, think about monetizing your blog. Also, make sure you don't write about patients! (simply disguising a patient's name is not a safe way to blog about your experiences with patients)
 
I haven't seen SDN blogs, but I have a lot of med school friends who host them through blogspot or something like that. You get less medical traffic, but it's easier to keep in contact with family and frankly, SDN isn't as sophisticated as livejournal and blogspot.
 
I think the people who write books usually write them years after the encounters they are describing so its ok.

It's also possible that it won't be as easy to write a doctor book anymore.
 
I mentioned this in another post, but be careful when writing in med school. It's easy for classmates to find out, and suddenly that gunner you don't like is suddenly pissed at you for calling him out on it on your blog. Alternately, be mindful of hipaa. But link to each others blogs!
 
D elegans said:
On an offshoot... does anyone know any good med student blogs? I looked around a bit a while back but didn't find anything terribly compelling/amusing.
Click to expand...

Here is a list of medical student/resident blogs (coincidentally hosted at my own blog). I am trying to make it comprehensive, so if you want yours added, let me know.

I am just in my second year, but I will avoid telling many patient stories unless I am absolutely sure I can avoid any identification issues.
 
Here is an alternative Medical Student Blog on Tumblr.. The student is a current MS1er at IUSM, but the blog is pretty random and isn't all about med school. Entertaining to say the least.

http://tupacshaker.tumblr.com/
 
DrJosephKim said:
If you're going to blog, think about monetizing your blog. Also, make sure you don't write about patients! (simply disguising a patient's name is not a safe way to blog about your experiences with patients)
Click to expand...

how does one monetize a blog?
 
how does one monetize a blog?
Click to expand...

This is a good article that summarizes the many ways you can monetize a blog.

Personally, when I link to Amazon books I use their affiliate program and get a tiny percentage if someone buys something. I also have a few Google ads on certain pages. It doesn't make much, but it is more than nothing.
 
ahyesmedschool.blogspot.com

I love this particular blog. So much. Poignant, and funny.
 
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