Dear Sir,
Blogs have become an important part of life for many young people in their late teens or early twenties (Oblinger & Oblinger Citation2005). We were aware from our personal experience that some medical students were also active bloggers and we were curious as to how they were using this new technology. We performed a content analysis of a sample of 113 separate public blogs written by current medical students across the world that were identified using several major blog search engines (Technorati, Google blog search, Blogpulse and Bloghub).
The majority of blogs (110 97%) were written by one author and 48% were female and 43% male. Most authors were from the USA, Canada and the UK. 71 (63%) of blogs were updated at least five times a month. Blogs were mainly used as personal journals that recorded the authors’ thoughts and experiences. Three students used a blog to record their elective experiences. Only 15 (13%) had no links to other blogs.
Fourteen authors were international students studying in another country. The majority (77%) were male, they frequently updated their blogs and their links were often directed to similar international students.
Blogs appear to offer important benefits to the lives of medical students and we suggest that informal blogging should be encouraged by medical educators. The time as a medical student is an important transition during which young people develop both a personal and professional identity (Niemi Citation1997). An essential aspect of this process is the opportunity for public self-expression and this may appear as disjointed ‘rant and rave’ (Wynn & Katz Citation1997). Blogs also allow the development of social networks which are required for psychological well being and future academic and professional success (Cross et al. Citation2001). These supportive peer networks are particularly important for international students often find the integration to study in another country stressful (Mallinckrodt & Leong Citation1992). We recommend further research into this emerging aspect of undergraduate medical education.
Manpreet Bains
Nicola Beckett
Jennie Walkling
John Sandars
Medical Education Unit, The University of Leeds
References
- Cross R, Parker A, Prusak L, Borgatti SP. Supporting knowledge creation and sharing in social networks. Organisational dynamics 2001; 30: 100–120
- Mallinckrodt B, Leong FTL. International graduate students, stress and social support. J Coll Stud Devel 1992; 33: 71–78
- Niemi PM. Medical students’ professioanl identity: self-reflection during the preclinical years. Med Educ 1997; 31: 408–415
- Oblinger DG, Oblinger JL. Educating the Net Generation. EDUCAUSE, Washington DC 2005
- Wynn E, Katz JE. Hyperbole over cyberspace: self-presentation and social boundaries in Internet home pages and discourse. Inform Soc 1997; 13: 297–328