JG speaks up

Here is a comment written by an anonymous doctor in response to the GMC guidance on social media. I am grateful to Dr Anne-Marie Cunningham for drawing my attention to it. I have to say that I agree with everything this doctor, who calls himself JG, said:There is no way I would ever write to the GMC about this but I'm happy enough (at the behest of Anne-Marie) to comment here - which, of course, shows the value of social media. My first thought is that this advice comes much too late. A quick check shows I first blogged in 2006. That's when I needed this advice. My second thought is that this advice doesn't really facilitate anything. I learnt the hard way that it was difficult to put clinical vignettes online without risking a breach of confidentiality. At first I started changing dates/times/sex and I kept myself anonymous but if the condition is rare that doesn't help much. As a result, I concluded that using a blog as a way of teaching on real clinical cases was unwise. Yet we have been publishing such cases for centuries. The GMC provides no solution – not with this guidance anway. My guess is that most patients would not mind and might even be pleased to have their case publicised but how do I get their permission reliably without falling foul of the regulator?As for identifying oneself when acting in a professional capacity, I am not too comfortable with that. But what is meant by a “professional capacity”? Even if I did put my real name how would anybody know th...
Source: Dr Grumble - Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Source Type: blogs