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The end of the year always makes me think on what I am doing and how I can change.  While I think New Years Day is a dumb holiday in and of itself (sorry Dick Clark), I do think taking inventory is a good thing to do – specifically in the area of blogging.

This past year was a very eventful year for this blog.  I started the year in a self-imposed fast from blogging.  There were personal issues I was dealing with, and blogging was “just one more thing.”  Then as I started blogging again, I found that I had a lot to say and that there were a lot of people who wanted to hear it.  This culminated in a few of my posts being re-published in the NY Times health blog (see the Dr Rob page if you didn’t know that).  My readership went up a lot at that point and I was quite happy.

One of the things I (and most other bloggers) have had to fight is an obsession with the traffic and links to my blog.  There are those who claim they blog just for themselves, but I would ask why they are doing it publicly.  The purpose of blogging is to have things read by others.  That is what I enjoy most about blogging – the conversations you have via comments on your posts, and the friendships you make in the process.  Still, it can be quite addictive to check traffic numbers.  So I removed the SiteMeter from my site and (more importantly) stopped using the Live plug-in for WordPress, which lets you see your traffic in real time.  The latter is the equivalent of crack to the blogger obsessed with traffic.  Perhaps I can do this because I am finally secure in my place among medical bloggers, but it is much better to not be quite so obsessed.  I do still have the WordPress stats plug-in, so I am not going totally cold turkey, but I am much better.

The corollary to this obsession is that bloggers feel very compelled to post often enough to keep readers and post interesting enough stuff that it gets recognized.  When Kevin was doing his “power rankings,” it became a side goal in my writing to be on his list (or at least sited in his blog).  Again, with a more secure place in the medical blog kingdom, and (thank you) a loyal readership, I have become less tied to this.

So where is this ramble leading to?  I am in the process of figuring out what my goals are for next year in blogging.  I don’t do well if I don’t have some thing to work toward, so this post is a way for me to talk it out for myself, and also a chance for my readers to tell me their likes/dislikes.  In thinking this over, I ask myself: “What is it that I am passionate about, and what is it that makes my voice unique among the medical bloggers?”

Here are my passions that make me want to write:

• Telling people what it is really like to be a doctor – specifically a primary care physician.
• The doctor/patient relationship.  This is in real turmoil right now, and I think many of the other medical blogs focus more on just the doctor side of things.  My most popular posts, however, have been in the area of clearing up the misunderstandings on both sides.
• The plight of primary care – this is being blogged about in a lot of other areas, so I will be careful not to overdo it with this subject.  My goal is to be specific as to how this whole thing affects me personally, rather than just rant about how bad things are.
• The healthcare mess – again, very blogged-about area that I will hone in on specific areas that most affect me and my patients.  Plus, any big changes that come along will likely hit me in my office fairly early in the process.
• My ADHD – People have expressed interest in this area – specifically how it affects me as a physician now and during my training.
• Education – I sometimes feel like a translator of medical jargon to English.  I do this with my patients, and like to do it on the blog as well.
• EMR – Electronic medical records are a huge part of what I do and something I know a lot about.  I am thinking about writing a series called EMR 101, where I explain EMR to patients.  I think much jargon is used in this area as well and the real significance of the computerization of healthcare is not appreciated by many.
• Llamas – I do think they will continue to show up randomly, although I have contemplated bringing in a fresh animal (I have included goats and monkeys in blog posts in previous years).  I am open to suggestions in this area.
• Humor – I obviously can’t get away from this, and will always be looking for ways to work it in at the most inappropriate times.
• Reader participation – The Golden Llama Award has helped involve readers in this blog.  I will say, however, that the past few contests I have tried have been met with PATHETIC responses.  Can only Dr. Val write a limerick???  Come on gang!!

Things I want to avoid:

• Whining.  I think this is an unfortunate thing doctor bloggers do too often.  Things are bad, and we have a unique position to see the mess our healthcare system is in, but it grows tiring to hear doctors whine about how hard their lives are.  I do my best to steer clear of this.
• Using the word “flocculation” too much (for obvious reasons).
• Overdoing any one subject.  My voice in the medical blog world has always been one of randomness.  I actually think I don’t have to worry about this, as my mental condition prevents me from becoming focused at all.  Apparently my readers haven’t held that against me.
• Coat hangers.
• Precious Moments (which are, of course, the minions of Satan).

So that is my verbose musing on my blog and where it should go.  I really do want to hear from readers about where they want me to go…uh, perhaps wording it that way is not so smart.

What are your thoughts?

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