Top Docs 2008 Part II: What to Know

Web-Exclusive: A Blogosphere Check-up

New England’s leading online scribe, Dr. Kevin Pho, tags some of his favorite medical blogs.

• Musings of a Distractible Mind (distractible.org): Dr. Robert Lamberts is an internal medicine/pediatrics (a.k.a. med/peds) specialist who waxes eloquent on the issues doctors face. His fresh, irreverent take on what goes on beyond the exam room is a boon for patients wondering why doctors do what they do. Here’s a sample post that caught the attention of the New York Times earlier this year: http://distractible.org/2008/06/29/shame.

• Rural Doctoring (www.ruraldoctoring.com): A hospitalist in rural California, Dr. Theresa Chan covers topics common to urban and rural hospitals alike, in language that’s largely free of medical jargon. Especially good are the entries about arresting cases she’s experienced, like this one: http://www.ruraldoctoring.com/2008/08/birth-story-380.html#more

• Diabetes Mine (diabetesmine.com): Probably one of the most popular patient blogs, this is dedicated to a condition that afflicts millions: diabetes. Amy Tenderich often draws from her own experience with the disease as she writes about the challenges patients face, and answers questions diabetics have about their diagnosis and treatment.

• Health Beat (healthbeatblog.org): This is a health policy blog, but written at a level that is definitely assessable for the layperson. I knew very little about health policy a few years ago; by reading Maggie Mahar’s work, though, I educated myself and now consider myself to be fairly well versed. Bonus: She explains wonky terms.

A practicing primary care physician in Concord, NH, Kevin Pho launched the blog Kevin, M.D. (kevinmd.com) in 2004. Since then, he’s gained national prominence as an expert on the intersection of medicine and the Web, serving on USA Today’s contributors board and appearing recently on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.