Lucky #13: Will you continue to blog in the future?
Short answer: Yes. However, it will be less structured and will most likely not be updated in a timely fashion.
When I first found out that blogging was going to be a requirement for the class, I groaned and rolled my eyes. For the longest time, I had this image of bloggers as people, mainly angsty insecure tweens/teens, who needed yet another way to seek attention and write about nuances in their life that only they could really appreciate. I think a lot of the reason why I have this preconceived notion is that I was roughly at that age (tween/teen) when the novelty of blogging, as THE internet phenomenon/fad, exploded and instantly reached its peak. Also, my exgirlfriend at the time lived and breathed by her blogs and I guess another reason I was so turned off to the idea of blogging was that during rocky points in our relationship, her blog became a black hole of passive aggressiveness.
But I digress... I still think a majority of bloggers are composed of the above mentioned individuals. However, I don't see it as anything to look down upon anymore and in fact, I think it's quite healthy that people make use of the advantages of virtual spaces. In fact, I am going to start up my own little blog, most probably on wordpress, when I start medical school next fall. I think that it will help me "vent," the stresses of the rigors of medical school i.e. work load, ethics, death and dying etc. Also, a part of me wants to "give back" to the aspiring medical student population by providing them with my perspective of the school that I am attending. I know that when I was trying to make a decision, I did a lot of searching to see what a "normal" day at schools were like, as well as strength of curriculum, rotations, board scores, student happiness, which I found but didn't get a lot of answers as to the little things.
I'm sure there are a ton of blogs about life at medical school, but I had trouble finding a blog specifically about the path that I am taking, and the school where I will pursue my education; I committed to pursuing a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) degree versus the traditional MD because of the different approach to patient care and philosophy. The training is very much identical, same classes and same topics, and they both have the same scope of practice, but to make a very gross, overgeneralized summary for brevity's sake, DOs are MD + mind, body, and spirit. If you are at all interested, the wikipedia article does a decent enough job outlining the differences and I will copy paste the "Osteopathic Principles" section here as well:
These are the four major principles of osteopathy.[8]
1. The body is a unit. An integrated unit of mind, body, and spirit (Triune of Man - A.T. Still)
2. The body possesses self-regulatory mechanisms, having the inherent capacity to defend, repair, and remodel itself.
3. Structure and function are reciprocally inter-related
4. Rational therapy is based on consideration of the first three principles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathy
Oh, and if anybody would be interested at all to "follow" along with my journey, I have already reserved my wordpress account. And if you aren't, I won't be offended. Promise.
It is bautile.wordpress.com
I agreed with you (actually, almost word for word now that I look back at my blog) about viewing blogging as a place for angsty teenagers. It seems to me that’s how society and the media almost show us how they think blogging is. They see it as a basic ‘oh poor me’ type of journal on the internet, and that’s how they explain blogging in most entertainment media. But I’m glad that this assignment has changed the view of blogging as a whole. Actually, I have found quite many blogs to be very resourceful and have almost academic like opinions on real events that society is going through.
I also think its really good that your doing a blog about medical school. I’m sure a lot of students who want to attend medical school will really appreciate it. I always find myself looking up comments from others about my teachers and classes before I choose them, so that I know what I should expect. And your blogs are always so humorous I’m sure that you will get a very good list of people who will read your writings as you go through your schooling. Good luck with medical school!
I felt the same way when we started the class, even though prior to the class I did blog (not on a weekly basis) but some times when I felt like I had a subject to cover or just any thing on my mind, I never blogged to the extent that we did in class. But in the end, I really did enjoy the blogs a lot. It really helped the class learn and get to know each other, especially by responding to each other’s blog with our thoughts and ideas. I did feel the same about blogging though before, that it was just an internet phenomenon but I feel like blogging about nonsense as opposed to blogging about how we truly feel on a subject or some thing that actually really matters to us, makes blogging a really fun and enjoyable experience, especially in a learning environment. Good luck on your medical school/blog! It sounds like an interesting experience and if I ever have the time then I will follow up on your blogs to see how that is going for you, I’m sure you will do excellent, not only in the school, but in your blogging as well!