The Community You Want

[7starmantis]

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I think it would be fine to hold a basic "professional tone" standard everywhere but the spf

I would prefer spf be left as is...

This.

 

[redsox93]

Do we... do we tell them?

Don't do it

 

[Lawpy]

@mimelim would probably agree to a suggestion of having a Vascular Surgery subforum in the Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties forums 😉

 

[efle]

I wouldn't change anything about SDN that is changeable. All you can really do against trolls in the age of VPNs and temporary emails is play whack-a-mole, and blatant trolling is the only thing that I think has no place on the site.

I also think online professionalism here is something that comes with time. I know teenager efle needed a while at first to grow up and gain respect for what SDN is/does. I don't think a sticky or mod crackdown will make the default behavior of most ~19 year olds accustomed to Reddit much better. As noted in the OP it's just an inevitable part of the internet expanding over time that a lot of new posters will seem out of place here.

In short: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - Abraham Lincoln

 

[Lawpy]

Also, why do we have a trophy points system? What's the benefit of that?

Having more badges and banners would be cool though. Although banned trolls and users getting Account on Hold and Banned banners look weird.

 

[Mad Jack]

There certainly is a lot of name calling and dismissive comments. Even if a forum is anonymous, this is suppose to be a forum of professionals and future professionals. While I personally don't care to much (it is the internet afterall), I do think it gives a poor impression of the members and by association, can give a poor reflection of this site. More importantly though, if people come to a profession-oriented forums and act unprofessionally, I can see this having negative conquests to their professional lives outside of internet. If one thinks it is okay to tell off other physicians and students online, I doubt that behavior vanishes in clinical settings (though maybe masked). This could be rectified with a simple warning, then second warning, then termination of account (just like it would be handled in person if it happened).

I also have to say, I think the "likes" system rewards poor behavior. If someone says something mean-spirited and gets 20 likes for it, are they more or less likely to repeat that behavior? This addition seems recent and I'm not sure why it was added, but I don't seen it having any benefit to the site.

The utility of the like system is in minimizing the number of "+1" "completely agree" "lol" etc posts that tend to clutter up a forum when people just want to let another user know they appreciated a particular post for whatever reason. It keeps thread size down and (for the most part) lets people know if their posts are appreciated while not wasting time or space. There are certain forums where damn near two thirds of posts are clutter about other poster's posts- avoiding that is worth the occasional bad egg (whom almost always gets banned anyway) getting a little positive feedback before they're expelled.

 

[deleted171991]

Whatever you guys do, please don't forget that every section has its own culture and traditions. Changing those is playing with fire.

I also think that there is a reason some sections are thriving while others are not. Again, look at the culture, look at the moderators.

There is a reason nobody is posting on Sermo. And it's not just anonymity (which is very relative, especially after thousands of posts). If I want to post "professionally", I'll just my start my own blog.

 

[Lawpy]

Whatever you guys do, please don't forget that every section has its own culture and traditions. Changing those is playing with fire.

I also think that there is a reason some sections are thriving while others are not. Again, look at the culture, look at the moderators.

There is a reason nobody is posting on Sermo. And it's not just anonymity (which is very relative, especially after thousands of posts).

yeah i was wondering why anesthesia and EM forums are active and lively, while some forums like rads and surgery subspecialties are a bit deserted

maybe each forum is unique and has its own culture

 

[Mad Jack]

Although banned trolls and users getting Account on Hold and Banned banners look weird.

That prevents things like the MJ Fake Banning of 2016.

Awards and banners and stuff are pretty cool, and I get that trophies are supposed to provide users with a feeling of accomplishment for contributing to the site. There aren't many for regular users, and the ones for mods and stuff typically leave them all at the same point count give or take, so it's less about the points and more about the achievements I guess. More regular user achievements would be pretty cool, but would be a niche thing for a small community of SDN addicts, so I don't know how much true value they'd have.

 

[Lawpy]

That prevents things like the MJ Fake Banning of 2016.

Awards and banners and stuff are pretty cool, and I get that trophies are supposed to provide users with a feeling of accomplishment for contributing to the site. There aren't many for regular users, and the ones for mods and stuff typically leave them all at the same point count give or take, so it's less about the points and more about the achievements I guess. More regular user achievements would be pretty cool, but would be a niche thing for a small community of SDN addicts, so I don't know how much true value they'd have.

I support just getting rid of the trophy system altogether

 

[fantasty]

Personally, would be nice if physicians/residents active in spf/lounge contribute to the pre allo and allo forums as well, even if just once in a while. Kudos to those who do, but would be nice if more did.

Honestly, I probably would [again, if there was some degree of separation between those entities]. On the other hand, the further out we are, the less helpful our advice is. I didn't even know about the MCAT scoring changes until recently. I used to be active in AAMC, but I'm getting fuzzier and fuzzier on current topics in medical education.

 

[mcworbust]

You could have an "onboarding" for posting in a forum you've never posted in. It could contain required readings of the rules and relevant stickies?

Good idea, would allow for less repetition and more informed OP.

Another unique idea: I've noticed its pretty common to see multiple new posts from someone who obviously didn't use the search function, and also long threads that have pockets of good info hidden amongst a whole bunch of B.S. Why don't we require the OP to include a "TLDR" summary addendum to their original post once their question has been sufficiently (in their opinion) answered by quoting the messages that answered the question. Then, the user of each post quoted that actually answered the OP's question gets some sort of recognition/points/etc/whatever. ALSO don't allow people to start a second or third thread without completing this "TLDR" task for their last thread started. This might make any non-sense posts a bit more irrelevant and less time consuming for other users who ARE searching for established threads to find answers before they go ahead and start their own thread.

I mention this in response to the OP regarding what to do about unprofessional behavior because, while I generally am not bothered by any unprofessional behavior even if it is directed at me because it is the internet, what DOES negatively impact my SDN experience is that unprofessional behavior makes threads longer and spirals content out of control/away from the question at hand, which is annoying and wastes everyone's time.

Also, separate thought, for ppl who start threads, there should be a way for participants to request that the OP returns to the thread to update everyone on the outcome of the topic they started the thread about, for example do this:
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...y-career-options-for-student-with-jra.954859/

Thanks!

 

[Lawpy]

Honestly, I probably would [again, if there was some degree of separation between those entities]. On the other hand, the further out we are, the less helpful our advice is. I didn't even know about the MCAT scoring changes until recently. I used to be active in AAMC, but I'm getting fuzzier and fuzzier on current topics in medical education.

You could still help in Allo and Gen Res forums.

 

[deleted171991]

yeah i was wondering why anesthesia and EM forums are active and lively, while some forums like rads and surgery subspecialties are a bit deserted

maybe each forum is unique and has its own culture

This is probably the fourth forum ever where I reach thousands of posts. Usually, there is a golden middle way between order and anarchy, between useful and chatty messages etc. As I said, the enemy of good is better, and I've seen forums die both from neglect and from overzealous moderation.

The anesthesia forum is successful because of the people posting there, and the quality of the moderators, both human and professional. As long as there is a good amount of useful information and people willing to share it, and help others, the forum will survive. The challenge is keeping out those users who don't really bring much to the table, while also motivating the power users who give much more than they take (especially the latter).

 

[Apollyon]

I've been on another forum with one rule and one rule only, you cannot delete your posts. You cannot modify your post after the fact unless it's for basic grammar. Basically "own what you say".
It's a simple rule that makes people think twice before they post but doesn't attempt to control what the actual user says. It creates a thoughtful but honest atmosphere rather than an atmosphere of controlled and monitored users who are afraid of being honest due to possible punishment if a mod doesn't agree with them.
We are adults (most of the forum except maybe hsdn), it's time to act like it because it's the right thing to do, not because the moderators are forcing professionalism down our throats with rules and regulations.

Hahahahaha! There's one person on SDN (of which I know) whose largest plurality of posts consist of "nvm". I have thought about that at times, and I, voluntarily, "own what I say". I haven't deleted a post in over 6 years, after I came to my senses. "What you see is what you get."

 

[fantasty]

Is this a midlevel forum? I thought it was for doctors and students studying to become doctors.

Isn't it a forum for students studying to be a variety of health professionals? 😉

 

[deleted171991]

Isn't it a forum for students studying to be a variety of health professionals? 😉

It's not called studentmidlevel.net. It's for various types of (student)doctors, first and foremost, AFAIK.

Not that I don't welcome every kind of background, as long as the discussion fits the culture of the section. We've had CRNAs posting in the Anesthesiology section and, most of the time, the discussion degraded into us vs them. They simply didn't have many valuable contributions professionally, which I would expect from midlevels posting on a physician forum.

 

[750335]

Honestly, I probably would [again, if there was some degree of separation between those entities]. On the other hand, the further out we are, the less helpful our advice is. I didn't even know about the MCAT scoring changes until recently. I used to be active in AAMC, but I'm getting fuzzier and fuzzier on current topics in medical education.

I get that and I assume that is why most don't contribute anymore, but you are still the goal and your opinion is invaluable. You may not be able to comment on specific things like the new mcat or prereqs anymore, but your knowledge on being a doctor, acing clerkships, residencies, what you'd expect of your students etc will definitely be better than learning from other premeds or med students.

 

[Mad Jack]

You could have an "onboarding" for posting in a forum you've never posted in. It could contain required readings of the rules and relevant stickies?

The trouble with onboarding and other such hurdles is that they often stand as a barrier to forum participation- the more you vet your forum, the less people it ultimately ends up helping, and the more of an exclusive club it ends up being. Even a small barrier might deter 50% or more of new users from the already somewhat threatening jaws of SDN. I'm all about this site helping as many people as possible and using social interaction and moderation to correct bad behavior. I mean, look at me- I was trolling quite hard my first month on SDN and stopped because @Catalystik called me out for my bad behavior and asked me to do something useful on the site for a change. Artificial barriers are always going to be far less effective than a guiding hand.

 

[fantasty]

That prevents things like the MJ Fake Banning of 2016.

Awards and banners and stuff are pretty cool, and I get that trophies are supposed to provide users with a feeling of accomplishment for contributing to the site. There aren't many for regular users, and the ones for mods and stuff typically leave them all at the same point count give or take, so it's less about the points and more about the achievements I guess. More regular user achievements would be pretty cool, but would be a niche thing for a small community of SDN addicts, so I don't know how much true value they'd have.

Elephant in the room... SDN addiction is real, and maybe positive reinforcement should be avoided

 

[cbrons]

Venting is fine especially if done in one, general thread about the topic. It's the insults and personal attacks on members that are out of line. Unfortunately, personal attacks almost always happen in every thread discussing midlevels and job security.

I've participated in a lot of these threads and I don't find that to be true.

 

[Mad Jack]

It's not called studentmidlevel.net. It's for various types of (student)doctors, first and foremost, AFAIK.

But nurses have doctorates now 😉

Really though, there are some excellent non-physician clinicians here that provide great perspectives, such as @emedpa - these people can help us be better doctors by helping us understand where they are coming from and what their place in the system is like, in addition to their clinical insights. They shouldn't have a safe space (nor do I think they need one), but neither should we have such a space by excluding them.

 

[Lawpy]

The trouble with onboarding and other such hurdles is that they often stand as a barrier to forum participation- the more you vet your forum, the less people it ultimately ends up helping, and the more of an exclusive club it ends up being. Even a small barrier might deter 50% or more of new users from the already somewhat threatening jaws of SDN. I'm all about this site helping as many people as possible and using social interaction and moderation to correct bad behavior. I mean, look at me- I was trolling quite hard my first month on SDN and stopped because @Catalystik called me out for my bad behavior and asked me to do something useful on the site for a change. Artificial barriers are always going to be far less effective than a guiding hand.

Then perhaps removing stickies asking users to post in WAMC and SSD forums would be a good idea. Since the mods anyways will be doing a regular sweep of thread redirects

I've participated in a lot of these threads and I don't find that to be true.

I can list the threads as examples but i don't want to derail the discussion. It's a suggestion to detoxify Allo forums

 

[fantasty]

You could still help in Allo and Gen Res forums.

That's what I'm suggesting... My advice is becoming incrementally less helpful with each passing phase. I used to be more helpful to my current stage and [-1 stage]. But, a couple years out from a teaching environment, my knowledge base is becoming obsolete. Heck, if it wasn't for facebook, I wouldn't have known that resident work hours were coming up again. Although I guess us old fogies can remind everyone that we've seen this pendulum swing back and forth, and I can say what happened "back in the day".

 

[deleted171991]

But nurses have doctorates now 😉

Really though, there are some excellent non-physician clinicians here that provide great perspectives, such as @emedpa - these people can help us be better doctors by helping us understand where they are coming from and what their place in the system is like, in addition to their clinical insights. They shouldn't have a safe space (nor do I think they need one), but neither should we have such a space by excluding them.

I agree. I would just prefer it to be the exception, not the rule. I prefer non(student)doctors to earn their right to post here. Most of them don't have much to contribute, except for PC or vitriol.

One of my favorite posters in the Anesthesiology forum is an AA (@jwk) . 😉

 

[Stroganoff]

(Wow - that's like throwing a hand grenade into the conversation - I may delete if that I regret that question in 20 seconds)

I lol'd.

I understand your logic, but I totally disagree. I modify my posts for clarity all of the time, and I will delete something if I regret it. In the real world, I have the luxury of saving a draft of an email before deciding to hit send. But, in a forum (particularly SPF), I think more people are going to click post (or send) and then have regrets that things weren't said as eloquently as they hoped. Being able to retract or edit may save a thread from becoming derailed, rather than leading to a derailing side discussion about "I meant to say..."

Ditto. I'm really OCD about editing my posts. For spelling, grammar, clarity, content. Adding stuff. Even 10+ years later just because of the forum software transition breaking some links and videos.

Ok. Random thought on anonymity.

How many users *actually* link their FB or other social media accounts to SDN?

Honestly, if I was a brand new user, I would consider it. But, in today's climate, I would definitely be more careful about what I said if it wasn't anonymous. In the professional forums, I may actually be more comfortable with being an "in real life" person (when I'm giving advice), although I understand that I'd probably never want to ask questions as an identifiable applicant (for whatever stage of my career I was at).

Another hand grenade, man. Every one of my online memberships is an island unto itself ("security by isolation"). No way in hell I'm using a site as hostile as FB to link to any other site.

Re: the anonymity and accountability argument, I'm trying to find either an essay or research I read where the opposite effect was observed: When users were required to use their real names, posts actually became more hostile.

If the question [that I haven't seen asked yet] is: How does a forum admin properly uniquely identify users (since IP is mostly useless), then that's a lengthy discussion. Not sure there's a ton of good solutions. Maybe require that an *.edu address be registered to the account of a student, but then that adversely affects alumni and can be a management nightmare when graduating/going to med school/going to residency. The solution I've most often seen is to increase moderation for the handful of troublemakers.

 

[Mad Jack]

I agree. I would just prefer it to be the exception, not the rule. I prefer non(student)doctors to earn their right to post here. Most (not all) of them don't have much to contribute, except for PC or vitriol.

One of my favorite posters in the Anesthesiology forum is an AA. 😉

Usually they end up being run out of the place or banned if they're just here to make trouble. It's a thick-skinned minority that sticks around.

 

[dpmd]

I am not sure I see a big need to make changes. I would hope that people are not so delicate that they are unable to deal with the occasional jerk, and if not coddling them isn't the right answer. Letting them learn to deal with it in a setting like this where there will be no real effect on their lives unless they let their emotions rule may help them deal with real life difficulty that could otherwise ruin their career or life.

 

[PowerLifter101]

I know that this isn't really something you can fix, but what kind of annoys me about this place is the general attitude that anyone who doesn't have super high numbers or isn't at the top of their class is a failure. You don't need an amazing GPA/MCAT/super unique awesome experiences to get into medical school. And you don't need to be at the top of your class in med school to become a good, successful doctor. It's okay to be normal/average as long as you're happy.

Best thing I've seen on this website. Thank you for this answer. I know quite a few people applying this cycle and next cycle. I cannot tell them enough you do not need to be some MCAT/GPA magician. Be yourself and you'll succeed.

 

[deleted171991]

Elephant in the room... SDN addiction is real, and maybe positive reinforcement should be avoided

Tell me about it! I have already posted more today, in this thread, than in the last 2 months anywhere on the forum.

Time for some good books. 🙂

 

[Lawpy]

Tell me about it! I have already posted more today, in this thread, than in the last 2 months anywhere on the forum.

Time for some good books. 🙂

Yeah i posted way too much in the past few days. Going to take the rest of the week off catching up with work and some good reads

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Likes are nice for bragging rights 😉

Fake Internet Points Matter! 😀

 

[aalamruad]

We also have this!

Does anyone ever use it?

 

[Lawpy]

So here are my thoughts and recommendations presented in a more organized fashion. I adapted some of the suggestions that others had posted. Many of these suggestions may have already been implemented and are posted just for further emphasis. Feel free to comment on any or all parts of the suggestions and disregard if you wish.

1. Professionalism should be maintained and enforced on a strict basis. This means there should be a zero tolerance policy to personal attacks. I understand the need to vent on topics that are sensitive and personal, but there is absolutely no reason to devolve these discussions into outrage and insults on members and community. That said, mods and admins should continue being libertarian and allow for free discussion, since as noted, aggressive moderation can kill forum activity.

2. Addressing #1, some have suggested creating a thread-specific ban for disruptive members prone to making heated threads even more explosive. I think it's a good idea and much more effective deterrent than simply putting members on a probation.

3. Reduce the hypercompetitive environment of the forums. The purpose of preallo and preosteo forums is to get into A US medical school. Period. Sure applicants range in various qualities from rockstar to average, but it's unreasonable and exaggerated to claim that strong stats and strong ECs are necessary to get into a medical school. This problem must be addressed by the community at large.

4. Encourage residents, fellows and attendings from the residency/specialties forums to post down in preallo and allo forums. This can be done using various incentives. And of course, discourage premeds from posting threads in residency/specialty forums since preallo is accessible to everyone.

5. Remove stickies that request users to post threads in a specific forum. I understand redirecting threads on a regular basis can be annoying and tiresome for the mods but that's part of the job. Instead, creating a new sticky that discusses general forum guidelines would be helpful. And for redirects, simply direct the OPs to refer to the new sticky for future reference. No snarkiness needed.

6. Remove the trophies feature. There is no purpose for this.

7. Add some incentives to increase activity in some deserted forums, like Topics in Healthcare, which has a potential to become a useful resources for healthcare news and discussions.

8. Update the residency/specialty forums to include some additional forums and subforums, such as a subforum for vascular surgery.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Arcan57]

The attrition is because (as you will see when you start medical school) that people get progressively busier as they move along the path to attendinghood. There is a similar drop that occurs from Allo to the General Residency Issues forum.

Pre-Allopathic is not less toxic than Allopathic. Not by a long a shot.

I would think the attrition has something to do with the number of pre-meds /= Med students. Also emotional neediness peaks at times of transition.

Also, while not everyone can be top quartile, the link between effort and reason for effort is pretty darn murky as an M1/M2. I can only speak to the forum I know best (EM) but we get dozens of threads a cycle from med students that discover they love EM but don't have the Step 1 score or grades to make it happen.

In terms of moderation, I think EM, surgery, and general residency do pretty well at serving their respective populations.

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

I wouldn't change anything about SDN that is changeable. All you can really do against trolls in the age of VPNs and temporary emails is play whack-a-mole, and blatant trolling is the only thing that I think has no place on the site.

I also think online professionalism here is something that comes with time. I know teenager efle needed a while at first to grow up and gain respect for what SDN is/does. I don't think a sticky or mod crackdown will make the default behavior of most ~19 year olds accustomed to Reddit much better. As noted in the OP it's just an inevitable part of the internet expanding over time that a lot of new posters will seem out of place here.

In short: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - Abraham Lincoln

20000% agree with this (I think my math works). I think a really good thing to think about is also the person who got destroyed the other day by everybody for posting a bunch of threads about wanting to do an MD/PhD in neuro-ortho-cardiothoracic pediatric oncovascular surgery at JHU. Were the poster's questions naive and easy to answer with some research? Yes. Did the poster need to put them all over the residency and allopathic forums? No. The poster didn't need to get all defensive or attack people either, but there were a lot of people who roasted the person and then just kept going long after everything useful had been said. I'm sure that it is common for people to have experiences like that and be completely turned off by SDN. Maybe threads like that could get shut down to keep people from berating people and intimidating them from asking more questions.

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

Something else that I think would be really useful would be to have some kind of sticky thread (or something like unto it) that could tell people what kinds of questions/posts are appropriate in which forums. Even though it should be pretty intuitive, I think that actually having a description of what each forum is for would help cut down on premeds posting inappropriately everywhere else.

 

[You're My Boy Blue]

I think the Osteopathic and Allopathic forums need to be merged

I agree strongly with this. Residencies are merging why not SDN. As someone applying both MD and DO I have found that 99% of my questions could be answered by either forum. However, I usually post in the MD forum simply because there are more users to provide insight. Merging the forum would allow an even bigger sample size and more voices to be heard when answering others' questions. I also think it will help remove some of the division between DO and MD from an early start. On SDN you have the opportunity to reach people before they enter the medical field.

 

[J ROD]

I think you should have the "social" forums more selective. And not mod there as it is. It is hidden already. There should be one place for that kind of behavior. Take all that business there.

The "business" forums mod as you please. But, you will never take free will away. Folks in general like to argue over stupid stuff....lol

And I think I should be a mod. I have been very good for several yrs now. 😉

 

[fantasty]

I think you should have the "social" forums more selective. And not mod there as it is. It is hidden already. There should be one place for that kind of behavior. Take all that business there.

The "business" forums mod as you please. But, you will never take free will away. Folks in general like to argue over stupid stuff....lol

And I think I should be a mod. I have been very good for several yrs now. 😉

Anyone who post-pads should be banned from modding activities.

 

[fantasty]

I agree strongly with this. Residencies are merging why not SDN. As someone applying both MD and DO I have found that 99% of my questions could be answered by either forum. However, I usually post in the MD forum simply because there are more users to provide insight. Merging the forum would allow an even bigger sample size and more voices to be heard when answering others' questions. I also think it will help remove some of the division between DO and MD from an early start. On SDN you have the opportunity to reach people before they enter the medical field.

You may have changed my mind from my previous post on the topic. The "Why DO vs. MD?" conversation could be a single, neverending thread, as long as it wasn't a flamewar. But, I guess I'd be on-board if you merged across the board. "Pre-med", "medical student" is neutral. Reference MD/DO when necessary. Just like I hear it's not PC to use "mid-level" and we should be saying PA/NP to be inclusive. (Or was someone making up stories, like that reddit thing?)

 

[Dr5paceman]

I hope it's okay that I'm posting based off of observation from the pre-dental forum, but this has really been bothering me. Personally, I'd like to see less tolerance for users who compromise another user's real, personal identity especially if it's used against them in a threatening or malicious way. So many of us post our stats here, share personal essays, state residence, and the names of programs that we are applying/accepted to, etc that it might make it hard to stay anonymous but you guys can protect us by banning people who violate our privacy like it's done on some other websites.

Recently, a user somehow figured out who another person was and outed them on a public thread which was later edited by a moderator, but imo that is not enough. To me it seems obvious that creepy, unprofessional behavior like this should result in banning because it just hurts the community to have users around like this who do not respect the privacy of others. It puts us all at risk and discourages people from posting here.

 

[freak7]

I hope it's okay that I'm posting based off of observation from the pre-dental forum, but this has really been bothering me. Personally, I'd like to see less tolerance for users who compromise another user's real, personal identity especially if it's used against them in a threatening or malicious way. So many of us post our stats here, share personal essays, state residence, and the names of programs that we are applying/accepted to, etc that it might make it hard to stay anonymous but you guys can protect us by banning people who violate our privacy like it's done on some other websites.

Recently, a user somehow figured out who another person was and outed them on a public thread which was later edited by a moderator, but imo that is not enough. To me it seems obvious that creepy, unprofessional behavior like this should result in banning because it just hurts the community to have users around like this who do not respect the privacy of others. It puts us all at risk and discourages people from posting here.

In a similar vein, I'd also ask for less tolerance on people quoting "please do not quote this post" posts

 

[J ROD]

Anyone who post-pads should be banned from modding activities.

Such hate.....lol

 

[mimelim]

I've been frequenting online forums, mostly gaming related since the mid-1990s. I wouldn't say that SDN is the "best" moderated, because I have no idea what that means, but to me it simply works. While some threads inevitably devolve, they are generally locked/closed in a timely fashion and people are generally pretty helpful. I wouldn't change anything personally, but then again I'm not that picky. And, given the shouting matches about politics in call rooms and doctors lounges I've seen this year, professional civility doesn't mean a ton anymore.

@mimelim would probably agree to a suggestion of having a Vascular Surgery subforum in the Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties forums 😉

That would be one of the deadest places on this forum 😉. There is too little traffic in the main Surgery section as it is.

 

[libertyyne]

Im not usually a law and order kind of person, but i think banning people's IPs might be more effective in preventing trolls from abusing the lax signup requirements and posting thresholds.(both of which are good for new users ) . I am unsure on how to fix the Allo culture.

 

[Lawpy]

That would be one of the deadest places on this forum 😉. There is too little traffic in the main Surgery section as it is.

Hmm well there were those integrated vascular application threads posted somewhere (either allo or surgery), so there is some activity. And you and few others could draft up nice guides regarding applying to vascular surgery and steps needed to do so in medical school. Surgery may get less traffic but it can still serve an informational purpose.

 

[Raryn]

4. Encourage residents, fellows and attendings from the residency/specialties forums to post down in preallo and allo forums. This can be done using various incentives. And of course, discourage premeds from posting threads in residency/specialty forums since preallo is accessible to everyone.

8. Update the residency/specialty forums to include some additional forums and subforums, such as a subforum for vascular surgery.

Just my $0.02.

4. is harder than you would think. Even those of us who are reasonably active on SDN and well-informed about medical education might not have THAT much to add to the vast majority of pre-allo. I'm 8 years out from med school applications and the few threads I really have much opinion on are probably the more "social" ones that strict moderation might not even leave in there.

8. is also a +/-. For example, if you combine the total number of Rheumatologists, Nephrologists, Endocrinologists, Infectious Disease specialists, Allergists, and Geriatricians, you get well over 1000 spots/year, and yet those 6 specialties between them can't support pretty much any activity in the "Other Subspecialties" forum. Vascular surgery has a total of ~170 spots/year (between residencies and fellowships), smaller than all of those medical subspecialties except Allergy, so I can't imagine it being a super active forum either. You could split off all of the little specialties, but you'd just end up with a bunch of dead forums, like the current sleep medicine or palliative care forums. I've always been a lumper rather than a splitter though. (Trust me, I'd love if the "other subspecialties" were split apart and had active forums, but it ain't happening)

All-in-all, I think SDN is pretty well moderated. I do wish there was more activity in specialties other than EM/anesthesia, but that's more of a factor of those two forums having built up a community over the years that the others just haven't matched yet.

 

[LutGholein]

I think one point of contention is what the Allopathic forum is actually for, and this has yet to be brought up. If it is what you describe: A place to vent about stuff and help med students get through medical school (day to day) then I guess Allo will continue to be the way it is. I have to say, if that is the case, I dont see the allo forum climate improving at all. The attrition from PreAllo to Allo probably has a lot to do with the fact that most dont need what Allo has to offer and dont want to spend time in a negative, sapping environment.

It could also just be that there far more premeds than actual med students. I expect big attrition rates.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Also, the standard treatment of SDN newbies should be much more patient, welcoming, and understanding of the fact that they haven't spent as many hundreds of hours as we have on here and aren't aware of the stuff we consider to be common knowledge.

Agreed, I was never a fan of the "you could have googled that in 2.5 seconds" comments. It's nice to have another human being answer your question(s).