A discussion with other medical staff here has led me to defend my med-blogging and social media presence once more (I am DrCris on twitter).

My name is Cris Cuthbertson and I am a medblogger. I am open and honest and I am accountable for what I say online. You may be a friend, a patient, a boss or a creepy weirdo (groups not mutually exclusive). I choose to let you all know who I am.

Being online and working in health is very controversial. People have been stalked, lost their jobs, run into legal trouble and been outed publicly. I’m confident some of the staff I deal with at work disapprove of my blog and my twitter (or would if they realized).

I don’t know if “doctors” should blog, but I have chosen to continue blogging myself. I choose to have an online presence because I want people to find me when they google my name, not some disgruntled person in a chat room. One of my current bosses maintains an online identity with a professional website and frequent updates. My more relaxed social media approach is perhaps not ideal for flying under the radar at work, but it (currently) works for me.

And am I writing this post as an explanation to those who have been checking up on me recently? A little bit.