I doubt personal info about a student’s private life will cause anyone their career or embarrass the school. Anyone who knows the online world won’t be too shocked to see their doctor is human too. Anyone likely to be offended by people airing their personal lives online is probably too old to be looking up their doctor on Twitter or Facebook anyway.

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-imagine-world-where-medical-students.html

Being both an MD and a Computer Scientist, I have a huge “digital footprint” — being online almost constantly since the 1980s. The last time I did an ego search, I found over 20,000 posts dating back 20 years. Thank God I did my work before Medical School administrators decided to become thought police. It’s a pity to see that kind of freedom go away.

Certainly, students should be made to realize that they will forever “own” what they publish. I have colleagues who carefully manage what they expose of themselves online. I have others who are willing to express themselves, knowing that they will own it. Both ways can be made to work well. But outside of real ethical issues, Medical Schools should not inject themselves into this.

A medical school is neither in loco parentis, nor is it the keeper of coventional morality. While ethical issues are always important, I think that medical schools should think twice before instituting its own version of thought crime legislation.

It might also be that some of the schools not responding may have had many more (or more serious incidents) and chose not to participate rather than revealing their situation on this matter.

Of course, a huge frustration with the state of medicine is part of the reason I have used the occasional four-letter word on my blog. In fact Kevin (as you well know), many “anonymous” medical bloggers (i.e. “the adults”) use “colorful” language.

I, for one, am not the least bit ashamed or apologetic for my “digital footprint”. I’m here for a reason.

Moreover, if institutions don’t like what some doctors are saying, perhaps many of them should clean up their own acts.

Patient info is most certainly off limits. And posting some things online is just stupid. But when one becomes a doctor, one does not park one’s voice or one’s opinions at the door.

Or maybe they do and maybe that’s our problem)

These kids are human. They have private lives and it’s a free country with free speech.

And consequences.

Perhaps, with a little gentle guidance (as opposed to the heavy-handed & punitive), these students could lead the way into a future where more of us were comfortable speaking our minds . . . and being ourselves . . . instead of getting locked in a posture of what we think someone else wants.

Who knows? It might just be good for this profession. . . what if patients had a better understanding that we’ve human too?