5 Top Medical Blogs For Students
The best way to learn what it's like to be a medical student or a junior doctor is to spend time with them. Even better would be to shadow them as they go about their days (and nights!) Following a medic that closely really isn't practical or even possible. But you can get close to it if the medic is also a blogger.
The best bloggers share a mixed bag of thoughts, experiences, achievements and challenges. Along with plenty of opinions! We've put together a list of medical blogs that we think you'll find interesting whether you are already a student or trying to decide whether medicine is the right course for you. All are personal blogs, written and published by a present or past medical student willing to share a portion of their life with the world.
If you know of a great blog that you think we should add to this page, let us know!
Internal optimist a junior doctor blog
Students don't stay in education forever (well, most don't). This blog, begun in late 2009, follows a student through their final years of study and into their life as a junior doctor. There are few clues as to the author of the blog.
Their gender is betrayed by the post titled "My breasts are examined", where he explains that, not having any of his own, he donned a false set for a practice session! This honest and positive blog makes an ideal read for anyone contemplating a career in medicine, or curious to learn more about what our junior doctors get up to in the workplace.
Click here to read the Internal Optimist blog.
The crazy life of a medical student
Blogs do not go on forever. The Crazy life blog began in August 2009 with the last post in 2014 and it also follows the life of a medical student through university. What's different is that the author is a Canadian who chose to study medicine in England. The author goes out of their way to provide plenty of tips about how to approach preparing for and succeeding at medical school life.
Click here to read the Crazy Life blog.
Future Doc
There are many different routes into medical school. The author of Future Doc took a gap year and acquired a first degree before being accepted into Barts and the London Medical School in 2013. The blog opens in 2007, when the author received their GCSE results, and charts the journey through A-levels, a biomedical degree at Queen Mary's, and the nail-biting selection process for Barts.
Click here to read the Future Doc blog.
The junior doctor
Begun in 2007, Dr Michael Anderson's blog is exactly as described by the subtitle: a junior doctor's diary. While there have been few posts recently, the early years are packed with insights into the challenges faced by a junior doctor, both personal and professional. Okay, so this blog doesn't cover any of the university years, but it makes great reading for a medical student.
Click here to read the blog the Junior Doctor blog.
Thinkmedic
Since the start of 2016, Antony Raharja, an undergraduate student starting his third year at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, has been blogging about his experiences of studying medicine "to shed some light on some of the things medical students go through".
Antony has a writing style that is both engaging and easy to understand whether you have a background in medicine or are thinking about whether a career in medicine is right for you. In fact, if you are wondering what to expect from university, we strongly recommend you check out Thinkmedic. For those of you who who are already studying, Thinkmedic has a section entitled "Ideas Dissected" where Antony discusses key thinking in the medical world and examines subjects from the definition of "Normal" to decision making in a clinical setting.