Physician Blogger

I walk a fine line as a physician with a blog.

I can tell you in general my thoughts about medicine. However, I can't tell you about my patients or coworkers. In this blog, I need to present myself well as a physician for any patient, coworker, or associate who may read it.

While my identity and photo aren't blazed all over this blog (I'm not about self-promotion, and heck, the picture is of the back of my head! But if you care, my picture is in a few places here), it's easy enough to figure out who I am. Even those physicians who have kept themselves anonymous have been discovered via tracing their IP addresses. Fat Doctor had a great blog, and now it's gone after an office member disclosed her identity. A physician friend with a blog was forced to change her blog settings to private because she was being harrassed. In a worst case scenario type of situation, Flea, a pediatrician, got himself into trouble detailing his experiences in going through a malpractice suit.

In the year and a half that this blog has been up, I've made many changes. I've gone back and deleted and changed posts that may not have represented me as the confident and caring physician that I want to be seen as. I've even changed the name of the blog to project a more professional image of myself.

I've thought about deleting the blog completely, for fear of professional repercussions. But, I enjoy having this creative medium. Further, as a physician, a vegan, and competitive athlete (I use that phrase quite loosely), I feel that I bring a unique perspective to the blogosphere.

Dr. Wes has some interesting thoughts on physician bloggers. Someone has even come up with a Medical Blogger Code of Conduct.

I think I can reach a happy medium, and hope to continue blogging as I continue on into practice.