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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

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.

6 comments:

Cate said...

Even though I never blog about work (well, my day job anyway..), I often delete or edit posts before they are even posted. I have to re-read before I hit post and think "do I want the whole world knowing this?". It is easy to forget that anyone can be reading at any time since we never "see" who is reading.

heartsaver said...

I believe that your blog is very unique and that it has a significant potential to educate individuals on healthier lifestyles and cardiovascular prevention in general. You should keep going...as a medical blogger myself (and in a very old school and traditional institution)I wonder how long is it going to be before I feel the pressure. I can only hope that the language barrier delays the process. I will be writing my TIC article soon so I will be in touch...

Saludos,
Juan

MeloMeals said...

I hope you can continue with the happy medium... because I love reading you and I think you are a great educational tool for so many.

Bradley Saul said...

It's wonderful that you've contributed so much. Thank you and please continue.

-Bradley
OrganicAthlete

Alijor said...

I feel horrible that you feel threatened anonymously expressing. It's completely unfair that, as a doctor, you're not allowed to state opinions of your own without fearing your hospital!
Do you think there is any way you could feel more protected? (identity wise)
Cheers,
Alijor
alijor.blogspot.com

Apple said...

Hello again Dr. Shenkman,

My name is Apple Lopez and I work for Freelance MD.

I visited your blog again and thought of taking a chance again to invite you to write for our site. You might want to consider it this time. I believe our members would find your thoughts of interest:-)

Freelance MD is the leading site for physicians interested in improving their income and lifestyle and has tens of thousands of physician visitors each month.

Here's a link that explains everything about guest posting including readers, backlinks and requirements:http://freelancemd.com/guestpost.

I though I'd mention that guest posts are not only posted to the main blog but are also posted to our Facebook page, LinkedIn
Groups, Twitter feed and distributed to many other sites via RSS so you will get extra exposure through these channels.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FreelanceMD

LinkedIn Group: Freelance MD

Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/freelancemd

We would love you to visit our site and take a look around.

Let me know if you have any questions and we look forward to your post!

Warmly,

Apple