physician forums

We live in a time where more information is available daily than we could possibly digest in our lives. For example, it has been said that a single edition of the Sunday New York Times contains more information than a person alive in the 1700’s processed during his/her entire lifetime. That said, information is essential to our existence. If you’re a physician, it is critical to your professional success.

Doctors must constantly update their knowledge to continually provide the most up-to-date, effective care and treatment. As well, being a physician subjects you to other challenges related to your profession such as practice management, negotiating malpractice insurance, even career burnout. The information available to you is limitless; your time, however, is not. Solution? We suggest online physician forums.

What types of physician forums are there?

There are, as you might imagine, numerous physician forums available online. The challenge is to determine how to make the most of them. Determining what interests you and what content you seek is the first step towards maximizing the utility of whatever forum(s) you choose to use.

The following lists just some of the online physician forums to which you can turn:

• Military Medicine – Discussion of Medical Corps issues. 
• Internship, Residency and Fellowship Positions – Lists available positions, positions wanted and position swaps.
• General Residency Issues – General residency (not specialty-related) topics.
• Emergency Medicine – Discussion forum for emergency medicine related topics.
• Family Medicine – Topics related thereto.
• Pain Medicine – Co-hosted with PainRounds.com.
  
• SERMO – Touting itself as the most trusted and preferred social network for doctors, a sort of “virtual doctors’
  lounge”, it is a private site designed exclusively for doctors to “talk real world medicine”.
• American Association for Physician Leadership – Although not a forum per se, this site provides resources for career guidance and continuing education.
• Physicians Medical Forum – “Dedicated to Encouraging Recruitment & Retention of African American Physicians”.
• Physician Forum – “The meeting place where health care providers and the community can freely share their views”.

Maximizing physician forums

There is clearly an abundance of online physician forums. The question is: How do you make them work for you?

1. Choose wisely. If it’s general information you are after, you’ll have more than enough choices that will suit your purposes. However, unless time is an unlimited resource for you, picking the forum(s) most likely to suit both your needs and interests should be your priority. So ask yourself: What do I want?

• Do I want physician forums that cater to my area of practice/specialty and provide me with technical and practical content?
• Do I want a forum that provides me the opportunity to collaborate? Problem solve? Or one that gives me a place to socialize with other docs?

2. Be discriminating. Even if you’ve found the ideal forum for you, chances are that it will have more info than you know what to do with. It may take a conscious effort on your part not to become sidetracked by content that, while it interests you, isn’t related to why you accessed the resource in the first place. Remember that physician forums, even those designed for a single specialty, are intended to cater to a wide audience. Don’t get distracted by issues peripheral to your search.

3. Manage your expectations. Be clear in your own mind why you are accessing the forum.

• Is this the best use of your time?
• What do you expect to find?
• Would another resource be more efficient (such as calling a colleague or referring to a medical journal)?
• Is the search even necessary?

Collaborate. Problem solve. Stay informed. Socialize!

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Most people expect that health care providers enjoy using social media for personal purposes. Fewer people realize that over two thirds of doctors use professional social networking sites. Here are five physician forums that you should participate in.

SERMO
SERMO is a community dedicated to creating a safe space for physicians. SERMO screens applicants and only approves practicing doctors. While members are able to choose to use their names, most prefer to use an anonymous screen name.

One of SERMO’s unique features is a crowdsourcing platform called SERMOsolves. Doctors are able to collaborate to find answers to complex problems. Many of their members use this feature from the bedside to find quick resolution. 

MoMMD
Over time, more and more women have entered the field of medicine. Female doctors are as capable as male, but may face challenges unique to women. MomMD is an online community for female doctors, residents, and students. Their forum lets women give each other support through these challenges. 

Doximity
Doximity is another popular medical social media site. With a membership of 60% of U.S. doctors, networking with other doctors is simple. Members work together to identify and treat complex medical conditions. The physician forums are not limited to medical collaboration. Doctors discuss the business end of running medical practices. They are also used to find and fill available medical positions.

As well as physician forums, members have access to a library of articles for your field of practice. These articles are often available before the official publication date. Additionally, reading these can earn CME credits. Doximity will track your CME credits for you.

The Physician Executives Forum
Later in their careers, many doctors find themselves in managerial positions. Running a business requires responsibilities that medical school did not prepare them for. These unique needs are why The Physician Executives Forum was created.

When facing this type of transition, networking with other doctors is critical. The Forum gives physicians the opportunity to discuss what they are learning. Subjects often covered include leadership skills, balancing medical and administrative needs or communication between interdisciplinary members of your team. Additionally, The Forum provides education in practical managerial skills and necessary resources.

The PANDAS Physicians Network
Specialized physician forums give doctors access to unfamiliar information. One example is The PANDAS Physicians Network (“PPN”). PPN is an organization that exists to help doctors to understand PANDAS and PANS.

Doctors use the forums to discuss how to use cutting edge research and remedies. PPN collects data about the patients for future studies. Additionally, PPN is the hub for active fundraising for this medically complex syndrome.

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Doctors devote years of their lives to education. After graduation, they spend decades caring for their patients. Physicians are always striving to provide a better quality of life. These physician forums can make yesterday’s dreams a reality for your patients today.

Are you interested in sharing these physician forums with others? Check out our free Physicians Physician Forum Guide by clicking below.