Definition

Blogs are online journals that are organized around the date of publication. Older articles are achived and searchable.

Examples of Medical Blogs

Clinical Cases and Images
A great resource for medical learning material
Medicine2.0 Blog Carnival
A monthly roundup of the latest articles about how Web2.0 is being used in medicine
Medical Education Blog
The University of Saskatchewan blog about teaching in a medical environment.
Grand Rounds
Archive and Schedule of upcoming online rounds
KevinMD
The #1 rated medical blog
Plain Brown Wrapper
A Canadian Doctor discusses practice management and efficiency
Doc in the Machine
Medical Technology Blog
Canadian Medicine
The newsletter of the National Review of Medicine
Medical Student Blog
An example from a medical student

Blogs in Distributed Medical Education

Blogs are used in two ways:

1. Reflective writing
   • Because blogs are organized like journals by date, they can provide students with an online tool for reflecting on how they have changed over time
   • Shared blogs encourage group reflection, peer comments, encouragement during difficult time
   • Blogs can be a record of the student's experience in the community
     
2. Sharing information
   • Faculty can use blogs to present cases to students at a distance, students can us the comment function to respond
   • Students can use blogs to share information with peers
   • Newsletters can be created by the home school, students or faculty to share the latest news and maintain contact while in different communities