Healthcare Blogger Code of Ethics

With the help of the HBCE community, here are some newly-accepted blogs:

1. 
   

   Name of Blog	USMLEMD
   Website	http://usmlemd.wordpress.com
   Blog post authors	dokidok
   Description of Website	Pictures, animations. mnemonics, news and more useful medical information for patients and professionals.
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

2. 
   

   Name of Blog	survive the journey
   Website	http://survivethejourney.blogspot.com
   Blog post authors	Robin Smith
   Description of Website	This is a story of my journey with Cushing’s Disease and what I’ve learned along the way. I hope it will help others on the same journey.
   Blog Type	Patient Blogger

    

3. 
   

   Name of Blog	Cushings & Cancer
   Website	http://cushingshelp.blogspot.com/
   Blog post authors	Mary O’Connor
   Description of Website	I had both Cushing’s disease (pituitary tumor) and kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma). I’m trying to post about how I am coping with these diseases as well as add snippets of helpful information on those topics from other blogs or news items.
   Blog Type	Patient Blogge

    

4. 
   

   Name of Blog	The Dragonfly Initiative
   Website	http://thedragonflyinitiative.blogspot.com/
   Blog post authors	Dragonfly
   Description of Website	A female medical student in Australia blogging about life, the craziness associated with spending most of ones time in a hospital, attempting to have a life while doing so, complaining about being a perenially broke student
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

5. 
   

   Name of Blog	Sumer’s Radiology Site
   Website	http://sumerdoc.blogspot.com
   Blog post authors	Sumer Sethi
   Description of Website	Online Radiology Magazine.   Sumer Kumar Sethi is an Indian Radiologist with great academic record having many national and international publications to his name. His other achievements include authoring handbook of Radiology “Review Of Radiology” for medical Students which is a country wide best seller. Special interest in Medical Informatics and Creator Of a web site- http://www.indianradiology.com , www.sumerdoc.blogspot.com one of the premier Radiology Portals worldwide. This site is an online Radiology Magazine, which has been featured in the Times of India, Radiographics, BMJ, Journal of Thoracic Imaging, RT image magazine & International Society of Radiology. Creator of the concept of Radiology Grand Rounds.
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

6. 
   

   Name of Blog	Wait Times & Delayed Care
   Website	http://www.waittimes.blogspot.com
   Blog post authors	Ian Furst
   Description of Website	Health Policy blog about access to care, efficiency in health care, public policy as it relates to health care wait times, practice management as well as the occasional joke.
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

7. 
   

   Name of Blog	Diabetes 360
   Website	http://www.diabetes360.blogspot.com
   Blog post authors	Nick Holmes
   Description of Website	A humorous look at life with diabetes.
   Blog Type	Patient Blogger

    

8. 
   

   Name of Blog	Raspberry Blase
   Website	http://raspberryblase.blogspot.com
   Blog post authors	Jacob
   Description of Website	I write about working as a pediatric ED nurse, and a little about my life.
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

9. 
   

   Name of Blog	the story of healing
   Website	http://storyofhealing.com
   Blog post authors	Karina S. Descartin
   Description of Website	My Journey in Life and Medicine
   Blog Type	Medical Blogger

    

10. 
    

    Name of Blog	Educatednobody
    Website	http://educatednobody.blogspot.com
    Blog post authors	me?
    Description of Website	its a medical student blog. I go to the royal college of surgeons Ireland. I try not to write about me as much as my perspective. I also like to write about the people around me and my interactions with them. Check it out, critique is welcome.   I might be premature in my application but I have ten posts and was not sure about the 3 month rule (I plan to blog for some time). Regardless, I like the blogs on the blog role here and would like to be a part of your community. I’m out! BJM
    Blog Type	Medical Blogger

     

11. 
    

    Name of Blog	Trauma Bay
    Website	http://traumabay.blogspot.com
    Blog post authors	Aaron Andersen
    Description of Website	The blog of a 4th year medical student going into Emergency Medicine with eyes wide shut, but in the ‘how did I actually choose this for my life’ sense, not the ‘Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’ sense.
    Blog Type	Medical Blogger

     

12. 
    

    Name of Blog	Asthma Mom
    Website	http://asthmamom.wordpress.com
    Blog post authors	Amy Anaruk
    Description of Website	“Any day my kid doesn’t flare is a good day.”  A sometimes irreverent blog about children’s health and parenting a child with asthma.
    Blog Type	Patient Blogger

     

13. Correction:  Andrew’s Nutritional Health Resources was included in this list in error.  Sorry! 

Welcome to the community!

It has been a long time since a post, but I want to raise a question that has come up with recent activity.  Is there a place for “commercial” bloggers on the HBCE?  What I mean by this is, should we allow bloggers who are using their site for their livelihood to display the code?  The answer is a little tough for me, so I would like to hear what others think.

There are pros and cons for their inclusions.  Pros include:

• If you look at the code, it does not say that you cannot have a commercial interest; it simply states that if you do have one, it must be stated clearly.
• Many bloggers blur the line.  If I put up advertisements on my blog, have I become a commercial blogger?  I am seriously considering it.
• Many “commercial bloggers” offer valuable content, so why should they be excluded?

Cons include:

• This is a blogger code - which implies that it is done by non-professional writers.  The purpose is to protect both the reader and the blogger from misunderstanding.  The commercial blogger will always have some degree of suspicion since they want to earn money off of you (like friends who sell Amway).
• There is a financial interest in getting the code, as it makes people trust you more and so read your posts more.  While this is not bad, it is not at all the reason the code was made, and somewhat goes against its purpose.

There are several options on how to handle this:

1. Accept them as long as they clearly state their commercial bent and comply completely with the code.
2. Keep the HBCE to include only “amateur” bloggers.
3. Have a separate category for those who are “commercial.”

What do you think?

The list so far is as follows.  Please check to make sure your information is correct.  If your blog has the code but is not on the list, please go to the fill out the form.

An American Medic in Britain
http://americanmedicinbritain.blogspot.com/
Medical
Medical Student
Education

.

Center on Media and Child Health
http://cmch.typepad.com/cmch
Medical
Education
Research

.

Dare To Dream…
http://www.dare-to-dream.us/
Medical
Psych
Research

.

DOCTOR PUNDIT
http://www.doctorpundit.com/
Medical
Physician

.

Donnabetes
http://donnabetes.blogspot.com/
Patient
Diabetes
Nutrition

.

Dr. Deb Psychological Perspectives
http://drdeborahserani.blogspot.com/
Medical
Psych

.

Dr. Wes
http://drwes.blogspot.com/
Medical
Physician
Cardiology

.

Emergiblog
http://www.emergiblog.com/
Medical
Nursing

.

Every Patient’s Advocate
http://trishatorrey.com/
Patient
Patient Tools
Education

.

Eye on DNA
http://www.eyeondna.com/
Medical
Education
Research

.

Fat Doctor
http://fatdoctor.blogspot.com/
Medical
Physician

.

Grassroots Science
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/
Medical
Education
Research

.

Highlight HEALTH
http://www.highlighthealth.com/
Medical
Education
Research

.

Junkfood science
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/
Medical
Nutrition
Education

.

Lemonade Life
http://www.lemonade-life.com/
Patient
Diabetes

.

Malaysian Medical Resources
http://medicine.com.my/
Medical
Physician

.

Medicine From The Trenches
http://www.medicinefromthetrenches.blogspot.com/
Medical
Physician
Education

.

monash medical student
http://jeffreyleow.wordpress.com/
Medical
Medical Student

.

Musings of a Distractible Mind
Dr. Rob
http://distractible.org
Medical
Physician
Pediatrics

.

Not My Second Opinion
http://notmysecondopinion.blogspot.com/
Medical
Medical Student
Education

.

other things amanzi
http://other-things-amanzi.blogspot.com/
Medical
Physician
Surgery

.

Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog
http://www.pallimed.org/
Medical
Mutlidisciplinary
Palliative Care

.

PICU Traveller
http://martygrn.blogspot.com/
Medical
Nursing

.

Prin’s Links for Social Work Students
http://prinslinks.blogspot.com/
Medical
Social Work

.

scan man’s notes
http://www.catscanman.net/blog/
Medical
Physician
Radiology

.

Scienceroll
http://www.scienceroll.com/
Medical
Medical Student
Education

.

Scott’s Web Log
http://sstrumello.blogspot.com/
Patient
Diabetes

.

Street Anatomy
http://streetanatomy.com/blog
Medical
Education

.

Sunshine and Moonlight: A Journey with Multiple Sclerosis
http://www.sunshineandmoonlight.wordpress.com/
Patient
Neurological
Multiple Sclerosis

.

Suture for a Living
http://rlbatesmd.blogspot.com/
Medical
Physician
Education

.

The Big D
http://canddbishop.com/blog
Patient
Diabetes

.

The Dental Implant Blog
http://thedentalimplantblog.com/
Medical
Dental
Education

.

The ICI Experience
http://theiciexperience.blogspot.com/
Patient
Chronic Pain

.

The Preemie Experiment
http://thepreemieexperiment.blogspot.com/
Patient
Parent of Sick Child
Anxiety/Depression

.

The Red Dot Project
http://www.betizuka.com/reddot
Patient
Diabetes

.

Too Much Brain to Contain
http://chiarian.blogspot.com/
Patient
Neurological

.

yen rocks the world
http://yenrules.wordpress.com/
Medical
Medical Student
Nursing

I have come out of my hibernation.  Now there are a bunch of submissions to catch up on.  I have gotten a lot of suggestions on how to handle the HBCE, and have thought long about what should be done to make it as little burden as possible.

Here are my thoughts.  We need people from the various areas of Medical Blogging who are part of the HBCE community to review applications from blogs like theirs.  These groups can be of the following type:

• Physician Blogs - I can take this one.
• Medical Student Blogs
• Nursing Blogs
• Healthcare Administration Blogs
• Patient Blogs
• EMT’s
• PT/OT/Speech
• Other Medical Blogs

If we can have a few volunteers from each of these to form a team.  When a blog application comes through and it does not seem it is clearly a rejection, then we can pass it on to each team.

I get roughly 2-3 total applicants per week (a very big number, really) - so there are a good number to catch up on.

Thoughts?  Volunteers?

Can’t believe it’s April already. Time sure flies…

Applications for membership continue to arrive at a steady pace. I have a dozen or so waiting to be reviewed as I write this. We will get to them as soon as possible.

The Voting Issue:

Now that Dr. Rob has returned from the real world and is once again becoming active in cyberspace I hope to get together with him one of these days and formulate a new membership voting mechanism. Still open to any suggestions you might have on this subject.

For New Members:

If you don’t see your blog listed in the sidebar yet, please be patient. Someone (who shall remain nameless) implemented a new system when I wasn’t looking and I have been entering your info into the old one not realizing it no longer worked. A classic example of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. When I get a chance I’ll get everyone moved over to the new roster.

All for now,
Dean Moyer, The Back Pain Blog — Rebuild Your Back

Hey Gang.  I don’t know how many are reading this regularly, but I would appreciate as much feedback as possible.

As many of you know, I have been dealing with personal/family issues over the past few months and have been out of service.  As I have done this, Dean has taken a lot of the responsibilities for the HBCE, and some has simply fallen by the wayside.  While my problems are not finished, things have gotten substantially better.  I do not have time to take up the reins of this and do it all (like I did at the start).  On the contrary, I would like to have a real community effort on this.

We have done a lot of work on the forum in the past, but as Dean pointed out, it is not a real efficient process and upkeep of the forum is high.

So here are the tasks that we need help on. 

1. Review of websites and approval/rejection of obvious ones.
2. Review of questionable websites by a group and approval and rejection by a reasonable process
3. Giving the HTML code out for the sites that are approved and posting the links on the HBCE website.
4. Upkeep of the HBCE gallery.  This should be a group effort that will require posts on the blog.  It should not be too bad, but I would like enough hands on deck to do 1-2 per week in ideal circumstances.

I really believe in the HBCE as do a lot of you.  I am sorry for my absence, but have been very thankful at the great support.  Please let me know what you all think on this.

Rob

Yes, the HBCE is alive and well and new member applications continue to arrive (although they slacked off a little over the holidays). Dr Rob is on a temporary hiatus (due to a family crisis) and I’m holding down the fort until he can get back to the helm.

Therefore, I’ve not done anything towards implementing a new voting system (or any other new developments) preferring to wait until Rob can get in on the discussion and planning. If you have any ideas along those lines feel free to comment.

Those of you that volunteered to help, we have your names and as soon as Rob gets back we will be moving forward with the newsletter and gallery projects. I apologize on behalf of Dr Rob and everyone involved with the HBCE for this temporary bump in the road. Sometimes these things happen — and as I’m sure you know — they often happen at the worst possible time.

We will persevere,

Dean Moyer, The Back Pain Blog — Rebuild Your Back

Just a note to let you all know that membership applications have been arriving steadily. We’ve added around 10 - 20 new members in the past few weeks… even though we’re getting behind in updating the membership list. (If you haven’t received a response yet on your application, sit tight, we’ll be getting those out as soon as possible.)

Also, you may have noticed that we’ve temporarily suspended posting new blog applications to the forum for voting. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that it was becoming an administrative nightmare.

We need a more efficient way for members to vote. One that doesn’t require the amount of administrative overhead that the forum called for. I’ve proposed to Dr. Rob that we return to a simpler email system of voting… but we still need to hammer out the details on just how to best implement something like that.

If you have any ideas along those lines, let us hear your thoughts.

Thanks for your patience as we continue to grow,
Dean Moyer, Rebuild Your Back

Dear HBCE Members,

We have several blogs presently under evaluation in the Forum:

• A couple of brand new applicants
• Two controversial blogs (That we really need your input on.)
• And a couple that not everyone has voted on yet.

Be sure to log-in and cast your vote and/or leave a comment. If you voiced a concern about one or both of the controversial blogs… be sure to let us know if you’re opinion has changed so we can make a decision to accept or reject. (New information is available on one of them.)

*****

Also, if you’re a HBCE member, but haven’t signed up for the forum and, therefore, haven’t been voting, now is the time to let your voice be heard.

As always, your input is important and helps to ensure that we maintain the highest standard of quality for our community.

Here’s the link to the forum: HCBE Forum

Finally, we are in the process of developing several “staff positions” for those of you who have asked about how you can get involved here at HBCE. If you are interested in helping out with this project, watch for more details coming soon.

Thanks,
Dean Moyer, The Back Pain Blog — Rebuild Your Back

Dear HBCE Members,

We have 7 more blogs presently under evaluation in the Forum. There are 3 Healthcare Bloggers and 4 Patient Bloggers. Be sure to log-in and cast your vote.

As always, your input is important and helps to ensure that we maintain the highest standard of quality for our community.

Here’s the link to the forum: HCBE Forum

Also, we could use a moderator for the Patient Blogger Section. If you are interested in helping out with this project, contact Rob for more details.

Thanks,
Dean Moyer, The Back Pain Blog — Rebuild Your Back