January 9, 2006
If there is one phenomenon that will define our time, it is the absolutely astounding abundance of information. It has become cliché to refer to the current epoch as “the information age,” but we are swimming in it and cannot get enough. Demand has detached itself from the two elements that hold it in check: supply and need. Do we need six 24 hour news stations filming a raincoat-clad reporter being blown sideways by the same hurricane? Do we need 500 channels of television? The answer is no. But do we demand it? Yes. Is supply there to satiate our thirst? Yes.
People like having access to their 24-hour news, but they can't spend all day glued to the tube. Enter the internet. The internet has become the great equalizer. Information can be disseminated, consumed, rejected, and modified by anyone who can spell and has a phone line. What we see, what we read, and what we hear combines to create alternate interpretations of reality. Need news at work? Just keep refreshing nytimes.com (if you lean left) or washingtonpost.com (if you lean right). Your news will be served up to you in the political bend of your choosing.
This brings us to the meat of this weblog. Ah, the weblog. The “blog” as we commonly call it. Previously the terrain of little-known pundits, angry conservatives, and radical protester types, it has blossomed into a “must-have” for any website. Go to CNN.com. What do you think about the latest on Libby? Go to foxnews.com. Is America doing enough in the War on Terror? Message: we care about what you think. Come one, come all. Express thyself so thy voice canst be heard. You don't need a degree and you don't need to cite your sources. There is no exam at the end and you needn't provide a bibliography. Blogs beget blogs, and blog writers begin to have blogs about blogs.
So, you ask, why another blog?
You'll notice that this is the medical students' corner. Why do we need a corner? Isn't there already enough information about the medical school experience? The answer is no. There are wonderful resources for medical students that answer questions about the USMLE, what you need to do to get into a particular residency, and what books to buy to survive your third year clerkships.
But what about the big questions? How does the ever-changing demographic of the US patient population affect medical education? Why do we do nearly all our training in the hospital while most will spend the majority of their lives practicing in a clinic? What is “diversity” in the context of a medical school class and how is it important for the health care system? Does nepotism still exist in medical school or are institutions veering away from accepting children of physicians?
Medical anthropologists and sociologists discuss these questions, but they are not medical students. These are important issues that merit attention by us. They are our polemics—we should seize them and explore them one by one in our own language, on our own terms.
That's why the Project on Decisioning has provided us this space. The creation of knowledge is an active process that requires interpreting myriad sources of information. Our discussions are essential, for if we do not have them then they will be had for us. Ultimately, we are the pillars of the next generation of physicians—our academic experiences, our issues, our complaints, how we are trained—all will determine the directions in which the practice of medicine evolve.
This is not a traditional peer-reviewed journal in that submissions will be considered by a group of peers and all rights to the published work will be retained by the author(s). The group may offer some edits, but nothing will appear online that has not been approved by the author(s).
Something awe-inspiring happens over the course of the four years it takes to earn the M.D, D.O, MBBS, or whatever medical degree is offered by our home institutions. A personal and social transformation takes place while we attempt to interpret massive amounts of information that never stop increasing and apply it to individuals that always find ways to challenge us. In the end, understanding the medical school experience is fundamental to determining what is in store for the future of medicine. Simply put, it's an incredible experience, so let's put it out there and see what comes of it.
Matthew and Premal are fourth-year medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch. E-mail them.
