6 Reasons Why Doctors Blog

Here are the 6 Reasons Why Doctors Blog, according to Dr. John M., a cardiologist and electrophysiologist:

Here are the top six reasons why I and other doctors choose to author medical blogs:

1. The Practice of Medicine inspires
2. To educate
3. To better mankind
4. To give a look behind the curtain
5. To archive useful information
6. To display our humanness

My comment is here:

Thank you for the wonderful post and sharing insights, John.

Blogging "To better mankind" is beyond reach for me, I think. However, I hope that my blogs helped "To educate" at least some of the readers who flipped through more than 8 million pages since 2005...

Doctors are highly-qualified experts who limit their impact only to patients they see - if they don't publish, give lectures - and blog. In most cases, benefits far outweigh the risk and doctors should be encouraged to at least give it a try.

I tried to describe a practical and time-efficient approach here:

Social media in medicine: How to be a Twitter superstar and help your patients and your practice
http://casesblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/social-media-in-medicine-how-to-be.html

Blogging also keeps you grounded and humble. Critical comments prompt you to back your clinical opinion, expressed in a blog post, with solid scientific references and that's a good thing.

Comments from Google Plus:

Gary Levin, Jan 22, 2012: Ves, I agree with all of the above and welcome to G+ Let's hangout sometime soon. I will send you an invite..

Sherri Vance, Jan 22, 2012: Dr. Ves, I love your blogs. As for reasons why MDs should blog, I think the view behind the curtain (#4) is the most important. Given that our nation is weighing a myriad of conflicting viewpoints on how to fix our healthcare system, understanding these issues from the doctor's viewpoint is vital. Thanks! 

Carlo V Caballero-Uribe, Jan 26, 2012: Excelllent. I am sharing this post with my residents and students. They will discuss about it in a seminar. Many of #hscm its centered on engagement with patients and public its ok but engagement with your students and peers in several ways that social media offers its very important

As some example some of our use include:
Twitter for journal clubs
Google plus circles to clinical cases discussions
Google docs to edit papers
Slideshare for seminars presentations
Below in the link its a post about it in my blog. Sorry its in spanish but the translator helps.
Thanks for your posts and example.

http://carvica1.blogspot.com/2011/12/como-podemos-usar-las-redes-sociales-en.html