After hearing the session on blogging at the NACHRI conference, I did some research into pediatric blogging. I found that there aren’t nearly the number of pediatric bloggers as there are neuroscience bloggers, but there are still some interesting sites out there:

Blogs targeted at patients

• PediaCast - a pediatric podcast for parents. Presented by Dr Mike, a board-certified pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• PediaScribe - the blogging arm of PediaCast. Written by Dr Mike and his wife Karen
• Dr Raley’s Blog - a blog written by Dr Raley directly for his patients with posts on health education, changes in office hours, and personal posts about his life.
• Pediatric Medical Associates: PMA patient education - a patient education blog written by PMA in Sacramento, CA.
• Your Child’s Health - a blog written by a pediatrician for today’s families on the go with breaking parenting and child health news, myth busters and occasional musings.
• Ask Lisa - Patient advice blog written by Dr Lisa-ann Kelly [ewwwww frames! Ugly site]

Blogs targeted at pediatricians or anyone who will listen

• Pediatric Grand Rounds - the archive of past editions of the Pediatric Grand Rounds, a bi-weekly collection of the best posts pertaining to the health of children.
• Blog, MD - a blog written by a third year fellow in a combined pediatric hematology/oncology and pediatric neuro-oncology program in the Northeast.
• Consider the Evidence: Med/Peds Journal Roundup - a blog written by a 5th year medical student (aka intern) about recent interesting medical journal articles

It’s a fascinating assortment of blogs, and there are more out there. PediaCast/PediaScribe seems like it is definitely a great resource for parents. I like Dr Raley’s personal touch and how he uses it to reach out directly to the patients he serves. For doctors, the Pediatric Grand Rounds seems like the best resource for recent news and research related to pediatric care.

It would be an interesting endeavor to have a blog written by a member of our staff at the Fetal Treatment Center or the Bay Area Pediatric Surgeons. However, that requires a measure of focus and time in their already busy schedules, so I don’t know how realistic that is. As a result, my main interest here at UCSF is working to facilitate patient blogging. I have a lot of thoughts surrounding that topic, which I will leave for my next post.