Step Towards Interdisciplinarity: Blogging?

"[Until I read blogs written by physicians], I had no idea what it was like to be a physician."

Who would probably NOT say something like this:

a) A blogger who is a pre-med student 2 years away from medical school
b) A blogger who has been a nurse for 28 years
c) A blogger who is a patient that has suffered from a chronic condition for 3 years
d) A blogger who is an average, healthy 32-year-old female.

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Did you choose B? I sure would have.

So you can imagine my shock when I read that quote on the high-quality Emergiblog, authored by a nurse of 28 years. Of all the people in this world beside doctors themselves, wouldn't you assume that nurses would the ones who understand doctors the best??

Sure, everyone knows that there is a varying level of disconnect between the two professions, but for being someone who has worked alongside doctors for nearly three decades you'd think she would understand what doctors are like.

It's great to see, then, that maybe blogging could be a tool for breaking down the walls between health care professions.

Unlike perhaps many medical students and doctors, I've got a soft spot for respiratory therapists, nurses, hospital security guards, and naturopaths, all because I've gotten to know some personally both before and after they entered their professions. Once you realize they're people too, people that you respect, you're much more inclined to respect their profession and look more closely for what they have to offer. Reading what they have to say, on blogs for instance, can help you towards that realization.

If reading blogs written by people in different health care professions helps us understand them more, then why couldn't that be one more step towards truly working together as a team.

PS - I think it's impressive that she would write that reading doctor's blogs has helped her "appreciate" physicians more than ever, especially considering how much crap nurses generally take from some doctors. Nice to see someone who has been in the profession that long who can still write things that are not bitter & jaded, when it's almost certain that over the years she has had to deal with more than a few doctors who haven't appreciated her as much as they should.