Every doctor should make content. Writing, recording, and making videos forces you to think about what you believe. It’s how content creation is so powerful for doctors.
Before I wrote about social media and medicine I wrote for parents. And when bisphenol-A (chemical found in hard plastics) first appeared as an issue I wrote about it a lot. I studied it, formed my own opinions and created a small series of posts on my former blog. One day at our Texas Children’s Hospital GI case conference the issue of BPA in bottles came up. I was able to talk about it and present the pro and con arguments so easily. While I never wrote on it with the intent of looking smart, it can certainly be a nice dividend.
Most importantly this kind of synthesis is critical when speaking to patients. How we understand issues impacts how we communicate and how we are perceived.
And you don’t have to create a lot or very often. A little is better than what you’re doing now. And your patients will love it.
For a more a detailed primer on making stuff for people to consume, pick up a copy of Content Rules by CC Chapman and Ann Handley.
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Thanks for a great post, Bryan. I hope more physicians will follow your lead.
Creating content — reading, thinking, writing, researching – is the best form of continuing education I know.
Jody
How true, Bryan.
The question that will become important (especially for academic physicians/clinician educators) is how such content, the extent of the reach of the content, and the validity (“peer-review”) will be judged by patients, providers, and administrators.
Doctors do need to create content and thanks for the post because it’s given me the extra push I needed. I was thinking about starting a blog but you’ve reassured me that it’s the right way to go. http://dialdoctors.blogspot.com/ coming soon.
Thanks for the shout, Bryan. I’d love to hear more about what you are doing, and what trends you see generally.
Thanks again!!
Some people say the best way to know if you really understand an issue is to explain it succesfully to your grandma. I had never actually tried to do it, but right after I finished my residency I started a hepatology website (http://www.hepcentro.com.br) and learned that writing medical information to lay people makes you realize how much you don’t know about the subject, and drives you to study harder.
Bingo, Stefano. Thank you.
I have certainly found this to be true. I research the topics I write about and then when I write about them, I know them so much more and the information rolls off much easier and with confidence when I’m talking to parents.
Since returning back to my pediatric practice on a part time basis, I have found my blog writing to be a great asset in this area. I love that I know these topics more intimately and I believe it shows when I speak to my patients and parents.
Great point and is one of many reasons more doctors should blog and write. It really is a form of CME.
Yes, it’s as much for us as it is for our patients. I wish more docs would see it this way. The CME question is really interesting. I’m going to look into this.
Thanks, Melissa.
Two of my doctor friends hated to write blogs and web content. One has amazing ideas but his dyslexia and dysgraphia garble up his writing. So he pays me to clean up his writing. He was blogging on a deadline recently and he would call and dictate his ideas to my answering machine. I would write it up – breaking each of his very long sentences into 3 or 4 to bring the reading level down.
I can also take very jargon-heavy scholarly articles and explain them so an audience with an 8th grade reading level can understand all of the important details. I wrote a patient medical guide – 300 pages with EVERYTHING patients need to know. . . written in 8th grade English. See http://www.reflux.book.com
Let me know if I can help! Bryan is a great writer, but not everybody paid as much attention in English class as they did in biology.
Beth@ClarityWritingAndEditing.com
Thank you, Bryan – your insights have been invaluable in preparing a talk for a group of Australian surgeons.
Es lo que intento hacer a diario
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