Med student blogging: MIA?

I forget how I came across Nick's post over at Blogborygmi, but I can't help but commenting on it with a post of my own. He asked where all of the medical student bloggers are hiding, because there is a relatively small number of us writing when you compare to other professionals-in-training such as law students. Mary, a law student who writes at Naked Furniture had even picked up on this, and both her and Nick had come up with ideas about why there is such a discrepancy in numbers. I can't argue with their reasoning.

I happen to have a few of my own hypotheses, however.

1. The time factor
I don't think I'm the norm when it comes to most medical students (at least compared to the people around me and the few outside students I've met). Every hour of my day isn't rigidly scheduled, and I tend to make up my daily routine as I go along. My whole life isn't consumed with when I'm going to take my next studying break, etc. etc. I know that if I suggested to most of my classmates that they could take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more per day and keep a weblog they would tell me that it would be too much time. They couldn't be convinced to "waste" that much time writing something up regularly, especially since they couldn't be guaranteed that anyone would read it. The few people that know about my blog think I'm crazy for devoting as much time as I have to it.

2. The "why?" factor
In the above reason I mentioned how some of my classmates think I'm crazy for keeping a weblog. Half of those think it's a waste because of the time I'm devoting to it, while the other half can't see the point. Chalk it up to the environment they grew up in or something in the water, but they can't fathom why I would want to write things on the internet and get opinions/comments from other people about it. Especially people who might not even be doctors or student doctors. It's the arrogant side of some in medicine shining through (the side that's rarely written about on medical blogs, and sometimes is clearly evident without even being mentioned).

3. The personality factor
This third factor really encompasses the two previous, because it provides you with what is probably the underlying reason there are so few med student bloggers. Medicine is a field that for the most part deals with concrete ideas. There is a problem in the body, the physician has to find out what it is and either cure it, make it better, or deal with it in some way. It's not a field of nebulous ideas and doesn't provide much latitude in terms of discussion or opinion, other than how/when/and why to treat. This attracts a certain type of personality, one that probably isn't going to be very interested in blogging...especially when training is still taking place. The blogging world is one of opinions and punditry, a place where ideas are sometimes carelessly flung around. It's not a sterile place where answers can be found by looking in textbooks or journals. When you're in med school you're really only looking for answers. You need to get down the basics of what is happening, why it's happening to your patient, and what you can do about it. I just don't think that a majority of med students have the desire or even the will to step into this arena...at least until they have their training completed and have a solid base to work from.

Despite the reasons above, I'm surprised at how few med students there are out there (at least ones that I know of) blogging. Going from Nick's number of 50,000+ enrolled in medical school, if only one-half of one percent were blogging, we'd still have 250 weblogs to read from. The count now at medlogs.com is around 40. Even if there are ten times more undiscovered out there, we're still at a paltry number. Maybe I did a better job at naming my blog than I thought...

Comments

[Leah]

Medicine is . . . not a field of nebulous ideas and doesn't provide much latitude in terms of discussion or opinion, other than how/when/and why to treat.

I could not disagree with this statement more. I do concede that there are many cases that simply require a "oh, rash, use this cream," or "here's the antibiotic for your infection." However, I'd argue that, like science in general, there are many things in medicine that are open to plenty of discussion. First, how/when/why to treat is already a nebulous area that merits plenty of discussion; how should we use antibiotics? When should we use them? Do they merit use in ambiguous situations, or should we always test an infection first? Fifteen years ago or so, antibiotics were thrown at kids (I should know; I spent entire years of my life on antibiotics). Now, doctors are much more cautious. Discussion and research about proper antibiotic use paid off.

Another huge field in medicine is bioethics. Do doctors have a moral imperitive to prod patients toward certain treatment options? How much should doctors tell their patients; should it be a need-to-know basis, or should patients know everything that's going on, or should patients just blindly follow their doctor?Medicine is a discipline which can incorporate philosophical stances; that's something great to discuss.

Additionally, as you know, medical blogs can be a great interface between patients and doctors where the average layperson is able to learn about and become educated by the trials, successes, and failures of medical students or doctors. Through your blog, I'm sure all of your readers have become more understanding of what goes on "behind the scenes" in medicine.

New medical studies come out in journals every month that discuss issues going on in actual medical treatment. In light of recent findings, should we continue to use hormonal therapy on menopausal women? That's a huge medical issue.

Medicine is not a cut-and-dried field that utilizes already-known knowledge that's completely printed in textbooks and journals. It is a dynamic, evolving field, and I'm sure plenty of discussion goes on all the time about medical advancements.

There's a lot going on in medicine that people can discuss; I honestly don't think that lack of material regarding medicine is what keeps med students from blogging. Perhaps there are just more law students out there? Or maybe med students just channel their discussions to mediums other than weblogs.

[Izzy]

Lack of material certainly isn't the issue. I think there should be more students blogging because there is plenty to blog about. I was commenting on the NATURE of the knowledge in medicine vs. something like law, and why that might lead a student to not be motivated to write.

[Karen]

I bet Kumar would have kept a blog.

[Mary]

I think we are all missing the biggest point, namely, law students? Crazy. Also vain. I am just saying.

[Jeremy]

I'm a med student...and I have a blog.

I just took my first exam of 2nd year last Friday.

Got the grades back today.

I'm still a med student.

But I shouldn't have a blog...argh. :-(

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