(Shortened version of
a talk given on February 9, 2012 on the occasion of the 45th
Association of Philippine Medical Colleges National Convention held at the Cebu
Institute of Medicine, Philippines)
Lost in the talk on Medical Professionalism is the online aspect of Medical Professionalism. In this day and age, we must be thinking also of how we conduct ourselves online like in our blogs.
A blog is a very powerful tool. What is cool about blogs is
that we as the author or writer of the blog post can also be our own editor,
photographer and publisher rolled into one. A blog encourages interaction,
conversation and feedback through its comments section. It makes readers part
of the conversation and makes them part of the content. It also encourages
sharing and networking through the social networking or sharing buttons.
A blog can come in many types. There are microblogs like
Twitter and Tumbler. But there are also blog types according to genres. A blog can
be personal, can be dealing with sports, events, entertainment, etc. But it can
also be a medical blog.
There is an increasing trend of Filipino medical doctors who
are blogging. Perhaps, Filipino medical students too. But only few are actually
medical blogging.
The uniqueness of
medical blogs
A medical blog has medicine or health as the main topic. A
medical blog is unique because patient confidentiality is a consideration even
online. It has to be accurate especially that medical blogs are often quoted.
Otherwise, the results can be bad for both reader and author.
There is so much at stake with medical blogging. The
author’s reputation and the reader’s health and even life may be on the line.
Medical blogs are prone to abuse. Some may pose as medical bloggers
even if they are not competent to be one. They may pretend to be imparting
medical knowledge when in fact they are just making articles up revolving
around a medical keyword which has a high value in the online advertisements.
Many medical bloggers are also blogging anonymously.
And medical blogging is something new in the Philippines
even if Filipinos are very much into social media.
Considering the reasons given above, ethical blogging should
be practiced all the more with medical blogging.
Ethical blogging
To keep a medical blog
ethical, a medical blogger must observe the following:
- Bloggers must respect the patient and medical professional relationship. Care must be taken not to accidentally reveal a patient’s identity. In the discussions, extra caution must be observed so that a patient’s identity cannot be inferred.
Bloggers may not mention patients’ names in their blog and
think they have already complied with privacy rules. But other information such
as the date, time, hospital service or department the blogger serves, the
place, and uniqueness of an injury or uniqueness of an event may still lead to
the patient being easily identified.
- There must be clear representation of authority and perspective. The blogger even if he is blogging anonymously must reveal his credentials or qualifications and must show the readers where he is coming from in writing this article. An About Me page may do this.
- It must be made clear whether the post is a paid one. Commercial ties must be made clear. Clearly differentiate between editorial content and advertising content.
- Information imparted must be reliable and sources must be given due credit just like in writing a research paper.
- Practice courtesy. Do not use curse words. Do not engage in personal attacks.
- Think, think, think before you post.
I would like to repeat that a blog is a powerful tool. It is
even made more powerful when a physician does the medical blogging because of
the trust and confidence that he usually gets from his readers especially
patients.
Therefore I say to the medical bloggers out there, keep it (blogging)
ethical.
Good afternoon and thank you.
Posts
