Guest guthriesm Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I know there are plenty of people who blog on this site either officially as a "PA student" or just in general. I've blogged for the last 10 years but created a new site just for school. Now I'm wondering if this is a good plan. I felt that I've kept it very benign - no names, locations (outside of indicating a region), no school name, etc. I haven't posted any opinions about people (except for how awesome they are- which they are). The blog is unsecured (and the particular host cannot be secured) and I've had a link up on my FB page for the last several months. I do not advertise it and I have not passed it out on this forum. I feel the current content is fine (I have been very careful) but someone pointed out that a perception could still be negative. However that person could not offer any specific criticisms. So the questions: should we blog about school? What can/would faculty do if they don't like the content? What about classmates? If you have a very prevalent blog - what have you done to protect yourself from problems? If you don't blog - is it because you are worried about future consequences? Thanks for the feedback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiaroscuro27 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Hey there! Interesting questions. I gave this some thought when I decided to start a blog detailing my PA journey. I knew that I would have to be cautious in terms of content. Truthfully, information is so easy to come by. Anyone who wants to know more about you (the school you go to, etc.) will find out one way or another. That doesn't bother me, really. I censor what I write enough to maintain enough anonymity. I don't think of the consequences because I don't write anything that could have a negative impact on me. My blog is about me, not anyone else, however I make it available so others may benefit. I don't consider my blog a "prevalent" blog, if what you mean by that is I get lots of traffic and comments. I do know that people drop by and read from time to time. I see nothing wrong with blogging about school as long as you're smart about it. Think of your career and your future, and don't burn bridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemegroup Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I blogged, and so glad I did too. Looking back brings up memories I would have forgotten otherwise. Just keep it relatively neutral, don't name names, etc. I did have one person HIPPA-threaten me when I put up a picture of the infant we were circumcising, and she was correct, so I blocked the eyes out and she was fine with that. The only other person who complained was a numbskull who was perturbed that I had talked about a certain patient who was nothing other than stupid. Like I told her, it's my blog, my feelings, my place to vent, so if you don't like, go somewhere else! That being said, I only blogged in my clinical year. Didactic year is hell enough without having to write it all out for others. But if you do, just keep it related to what you're learning. Don't get personal, or give out your program's Golden Secrets. Keep it neutral. I didn't tell faculty or my preceptors, as someone would surely have misunderstood and gotten their panties in a knot. Such is the world. The one preceptor I did mention it to in passing, froze in fear until I assured them that there would be no personal specifics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJKitty Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I'm just doing it for my own personal memories as well, and as a way to update friends and family along the journey. I have a good feeling it will be 80% pre-PA posts, then one post every few months once I hit the trainwreck of didactic year, and maybe a slight increase in frequency once I start clinicals. If it happens to be useful to anyone else out there, then that's just icing on the cake. (So far I can tell you it has NOT been particularly useful, and I still chuckle every time I get a subscription notification... poor souls don't know how much they're about to waste their time!) I guess my biggest "risk" I've posted so far is a single sentence from an H&P. However, I removed all gender-specific words and the incident described has absolutely nothing to do with why the patient was admitted that time (took place many years ago) so there should hopefully be no way to track it back to the individual. It helps that my precious little hospital has yet to begin electronic charting, haha. I got such a laugh out of it that I had to share, and I did confirm with several people that no HIPPA rules were broken. I have no idea how I'll be blogging during school... it will just be as generic as possible so that pre-PAs can get an idea of what a day in the life is like without providing any free handouts. Patient interactions will have to be left out completely or edited very carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guthriesm Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks chiaroscuro27, Hemegroup, and CJKitty. Any chance the guys from "Inside PA Training" could respond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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