The document provides guidance for medical students on creating an effective elective blog. It recommends hosting blogs on Wordpress or Blogger due to privacy policies and the ability to edit content. An interesting blog post includes images, short paragraphs of around 400 words, and personal opinions and reflections. The document stresses maintaining patient confidentiality by avoiding identifying details and gaining consent for photos. It also advises students to consider their digital footprint and curate online content to showcase learning and experiences professionally.

1. Slide 1
Blogging on
Electives
Lauren Taylor
and
Bernadette John

2. Slide 2
About us:
 Lauren Taylor
Final Year Medical Student, Avid
Blogger!
 Bernadette John
Digital Professionalism & Social Media
Lead at King's College London

3. Slide 3
The aim of an elective blog:
Sharing your experience and
demonstrating what you’ve
learnt, in a fun,
professional way
Many students choose to blog whilst on elective, even if they haven’t
previously.
An elective blog overlaps into several domains- part holiday snaps, part
professional portfolio, part logbook, part reflection. When writing one it is
important to be aware of the positive endpoints of a record of your experience
and a good record for your CV, but also being aware of potential errors
around patient confidentiality.

4. Slide 4
Points to cover today:
 How to write a good blog
 What to talk about
 Photos and consent
 Sharing your blog
 The future of your blog!

5. Slide 5
Hosting sites
 Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger or
dedicated elective blogging sites?
 “Elective blog” platforms not
recommended!
 Check privacy policies and storage of
information
Do I own my content?
Can I delete or edit it in future?
Wordpress and blogger/blogspot in particular are very reliable blogging sites,
easy to set up and customise with themes.
Elective blog platforms are not recommended as they don’t necessarily have
the same good guidelines in place regarding storing your content, letting you
own it and deleting/editing it in future. They will often try to attract you in
association with pre-arranged electives that you pay for.
One site previously used by KCL has now closed down and that content is
assumedly lost- but could resurface at some point!

6. Slide 6
Formula for an interesting
post
 http://tomdorekcl.wordpress.com/
 An interesting post contains:
An image or video
Word count ~400
• In short paragraphs to be easily read on a
phone
Your personal opinion
The URL is for a blog on “how to blog” by a KCL staff member- it contains
good advice on setting up a blog, and tips on things like how to add pictures
and video to your posts.
A post is interesting if it contains some personal opinions and reflections on
your experience. This isn’t Google Earth or a travel brochure- what makes
your post worth reading is what you’ve taken from it. Your reflections, your
interpretation of what you’ve learnt is what will get you pageviews, and
showing you can reflect on your experiences is a good attribute.

7. Slide 7
Do’s and don’ts
 Do show your experiences
of a new country/culture
 Do show what you are
learning
 Do share your opinion
 Do maintain confidentiality
 Do be reflective
 Do show your holiday
snaps!
 Don’t share illegal
practises/not done
in the UK (don’t do
these anyway!)
 Also follow local laws
 Don’t be
unprofessional-
photos of
drunkenness etc
 Don’t share photos
of patients without
written consent
A good elective blog is interesting and personal as well as professional. It can
both be a way to show off the experience you are having (and reassure loved
ones that you are safe and well!) and be a portfolio to show off in the future.
These points may seem like common sense but some students fall into traps
of showing inappropriate stories or photos, so keep professionalism in mind.
Even if the law is different in a country, admitting to breaking the law (e.g
using a drug that is illegal here) could lead to a prosecution when you return
to the UK. Similarly you should observe the laws of the country you are in, e.g
around using alcohol.

8. Slide 8
Maintaining confidentiality
 Don’t identify patients
No names
Avoid discussing rare conditions
As you may be discussing clinical
cases, try to avoid “on the day”
Nothing impolite
 Get permission to identify colleagues
 Professionalism in hospital/on-site
photos
Even whilst obscuring patient data and taking care not to mention identifying
features, just saying that you saw a particular condition on a particular day
could be enough for someone to identify a patient (or them to identify
themselves!), as your location will be known. One good way to further
anonymise clinical cases is to not report them on the day you saw them, but
instead wait and do weekly “round-ups” of what you saw. Remember patients
themselves could look up your blog, so take care not to discuss a prognosis
or condition the patient may not be aware of.
Confidentiality doesn’t just apply to patients- you should remember to respect
the wishes of colleagues who may or may not want to be named or
photographed to be online, and Hospital Trusts may have their own policies
around photos taken on-site. You should always maintain professionalism
whilst on-site and/or in uniform.

9. Slide 9
Some examples:
 Anxious blogger (what to avoid):
http://www.electives.net/blog/post/201
3/6/21/confessions-of-a-medical-
student-on-elective-in-lesotho
 Summary blog (good example):
http://www.medicalelectivesblog.net/2
014/01/17/tamara-indiana/
Both of these blogs are hosted on elective blogging sites which isn’t
recommended as previously mentioned. However these two posts are good
examples of blogging done well and less well.
The first student is clearly very anxious and whilst she is being open and
honest about her feelings, talking about how scared she is may not reflect well
on her in future and could possibly put future students off from travelling. She
should also be mindful of how her criticisms may affect her hosts and whether
they would want to take on other students later as a result. She will likely not
want to showcase this in future.
The second student is a good example of further anonymising cases by
combining them into a single summary post. They have also shown well what
they have gained from the experience and clearly show the experience they
have gained and skills they have developed- a very good use of Social Media
to reflect and showcase their learning.

10. Slide 10
Photos and consent
 Disable map data on devices taking
photos
 Remove EXIF data from photographs
uploaded onto blog
 Check the local policy on photographs
before you go
 Translate consent form and seek
consent from carers before taking
photos
Be sure to remove EXIF data from digital photos- this contains information on
“when” and “on what device” the photos were taken, and smartphones can
also record “where”. You can turn location services off on a smartphone and
the various apps (instagram, flickr, facebook etc can all register your location
when linked to photos).
If you do need to use consent forms and perhaps photoconsent app for
photos, translate and screenshot consent form in the appropriate language,
be sure to explain this in your notes. It can be as simple as running the
phrases through Google Translate and keeping a screenshot on your phone
to show patients, or the guardians of underage patients. Apps like
photoconsent are a few pounds and record consent with the photos, as well
as emailing copies to clinician and patient.
The hospital or trust you are visiting may have a local policy on images of
patients. Even if it does not, follow good practise and take your patient’s
informed consent.

11. Slide 11
Sharing your blog
 Tweet out links to your blog post
 Link to your blog post from Linkedin
as a testament to your insight and
learning
 Be sure to showcase your insight into
the ethical use of social media,
informed consent and photographs
etc.
Linkedin is a professional networking site that is essentially an online CV
where you can connect with other professionals. This is a good site to use to
link to a professional blog showcasing your learning and experience.
You may want to link from sites such as Twitter or Facebook. Whilst sharing
travel pictures on these sites is common, sharing clinical details or images
directly on these sites may not be as appropriate, and not as easily under
your control.
Showing your understanding of ethics and patient consent can also be a
positive attribute in itself, and a blog post on how you are ensuring informed
consent and protect your patients could be an interesting and positive addition
to your elective record.

12. Slide 12
The future of your blog
 Your blog will last
This can be good!
 Can you delete it? Will you need to?
 Check your “online footprint”
Google your name/usernames/email
Delete unfavourable content
Link to better professional content to
get it higher in search results
Some people choose to blog an experience thinking that they will then delete
all evidence later. However this cannot be guaranteed- content can be cached
or screenshot and reposted by other people. It is much better to write your
blog with the expectation that you will use and re-show it later.
Whilst thinking about preparing your blog for the future, it is worthwhile
considering your entire digital footprint. If people Google your name what will
they find? What about your email address or usernames? It is worth searching
these yourself and removing any past content that is unfavourable! Linking to
your blog and professional sites such as linkedin will get them higher up in
your search results, above less favourable content.

13. Slide 13
Today we have covered…
 Blogging platforms and posting tips
 Sharing opinions and experience
professionally
 Confidentiality and photography
 Sharing your blog
 Your long-term digital profile