Stanford Report, June 7, 2006

Online journals: A week in the lives of six med students

Those curious about life at the School of Medicine can get the inside scoop by reading six student blogs .

Armed with cameras, the students chronicled their daily activities, adding their musings to the nearly 41 million blogs worldwide, including Graham Walker's Over My Med Body! Posting on a university-sponsored Web site, the students wrote about anything they wanted from May 7 through May 14. The school's Public Web Services collaborated with the Office of Student Affairs to implement the project.

"We wanted to present to the outside world a view of what it was like to be a student here," said Michael Halaas, director of Public Web Services. "What we got was fantastic."

The blogs can be a good recruiting tool, giving prospective students a firsthand account of the challenges and joys students face every day.

Dora Castaneda, a third-year student, chronicled her taking a year off to pursue her neurology research. Second-year student Candace Pau blogged about her struggles to memorize all she needs to know to pass the Boards, the United States Medical Licensing Examination. First-year student Andrea Hartsock wrote about the choices she must make to plot out her medical school years.

Most offer advice for incoming students through their own experiences.

In her blog, Pau wrote: "'Don't worry, let the path choose you,' seems like such a simple message, but sometimes it really helps to hear it from someone else—particularly someone who's been through the process."

It was difficult to blog at first, said Kenny Gibbs, a first-year student who is learning to balance exercising, exploring his academic interests and attending to his faith. He wanted to excite potential students about his experience at Stanford and still keep an accurate account of his activities. He became concerned his life would seem too boring or too consumed with studying, he said. "I wanted to show that I have fun, too," he said.

Halaas considers the project a success and Public Web Services is looking into enabling the students to continue their blogs. Alternatively, the department might set up a system allowing any student who wants a blog to start one.

Gibbs said he'd keep a blog, but found nightly posts challenging.

"It's a lot of work," he said. "It takes a lot of dedication." —A.P.