The best medical blogs are challenging, educational, and, well, they must also be interesting. What follows, 50 blogs that run the gamut from pre-med students wanting to get into med school to postings by experienced administrators and physicians specializing in various fields, are the best of their class. For the purpose of making it all flow easy, we've divided the postings into three categories.
Getting into Med School
Life as a Doctor
Specialization
Getting Into Medical School
Accepted
The title says it all. Click on medical school admissions guide and you will find a plethora of helpful hints on getting into med school. The site's special reports give you more than any individual post can deliver. They are either a thorough deep dive into a specific topic, or a collection of posts and articles on that topic. In either case, they give you more than an individual post can. All are free; the site specifically says "download as many as you want." By the way, the site also can help prospective law school students…but that's another topic, another day.
Get into Medical School
A very interesting and informative first-person advice blog. Here is the premise: It takes incredible resilience, and outstanding endurance to jump through a lot of hoops, before finally being admitted to a medical school. This site was created to provide pre-medical students with high quality information. It is the blogger's goal to offer the best guides, podcasts, blog posts, strategies, rants, tips, and really anything that can help you reach your goal.
Kevin M.D.com
The blog we are recommending here is called "6 reasons why applicants fail to get into medical school," by Jessica Freedman, M.D. In her introduction to this piece, Dr. Freeman writes, "Every year medical school applicants feel confused and in the dark about why they have been rejected by medical schools. They do not understand what they did wrong or what they need to do differently when they reapply. Whether you are a premedical student trying to make sure to do everything right, or a medical school applicant who has not yet been accepted to medical school, it may help to learn what applicants who are not accepted to medical school often have in common. Many of these problems are easy to avoid while others take a little more time and effort to remedy." Great stuff. Useful information.
Medical School Admissions Doctor
A superb U.S. News site, particularly if you need a guide through the murky medical school admissions process. Medical School Admissions Doctor, previously written by Veritas Prep's [http://www.veritasprep.com] team of medical school admissions consultants, offers a wide variety of expert and student voices in the field to guide prospective students in their pursuit of a medical education. You can even email questions to [email protected].
Go to: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor
Med School Pulse
Billed as "Your daily dose of tips & techniques to prepare for medical school and the MCAT." This blog site offers up such topics as: Finding the Right Medical School for You; Medical School Interview Tips and Tricks; and Med School Requirements, Letters of Recommendation. The blogs are under the aegis of Kaplan Test Prep (a paid service. The blogs are free to read).
UMHS Endeavor
Here is an unusual take on getting into a non-traditional med school. The UMHS stands for University of Medical and Health Sciences, St. Kitts. So you know this is one of those Caribbean med schools. This might not be for you if you are taking a traditional path to med school; that is, if you have all the pre-med qualifications. But what if you don't. What if you still yearn to be a doctor, what if you have that calling? That's where this might be worth checking out. We're not endorsing this as the best way to become a doctor. Just offering this as something to consider, as an option.
The Life
Bad Medicine
This blog is all about the dubious, bad and sometimes lunatic developments in the medical world. It will cover not only the science, but also the human and social side of medicine. And it isn't afraid to poke fun at those who cry out to have fun poked at them. A U.K. based site, so beware of the English-isms and U.K. pounds. Other than that, fun, informative, thought-provoking.
Billy Rubin's Blog
Where a spiritual descendant of Sir William Osler and Abbie Hoffman holds forth on issues of medicine, media and politics. Mostly. From the beginning, this blog caught my attention, because the writer is about to go to West Africa to help with the treating of Ebola. Fascinating and highly intelligent, a great post. Worth following as he ventures into a most dangerous situation.
Cases Blog: Medical and Health Blog
One of the best blogs in medicine (says no less an authority than the British Medical Journal) is Ves Dimov's Clinical Cases and Images – Blog. It contains a rich collection of "presurfed" material for busy clinicians and features interactivity and timely discussion. Dimov is also a supporter of medical librarian bloggers. Why waste time fumbling with search engines when you can consult this blog for timely updates? As well as case discussions, Ves provides links to today's medical headlines from Reuters and clinical images via a dynamic, free photo sharing tool called Flickr. One of his slide presentations "Web 2.0 in medicine" is available on Slideshare (itself a fantastic new 2.0 tool). Clinical Cases and Images is a virtual laboratory for doctors and medical librarians interested in Web 2.0."
DB's Medical Rants
Db is the nickname for Dr. Robert M. Centor. The DB stands both for Dr. Bob and da boss. Centor is an academic general internist at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. The blog started in 2002. Interesting insights into internal medicine from a very experienced practictioner.
Mom M.D.: Connecting Women in Medicine
A great site that offers blogs for pre-med, medical students and beyond. Some other cool features (beyond all the blogs) are pages of information about physician jobs and nursing jobs. Also forums that feature postings and strings by students and physicians on the issues of the day. Geared towards women in medicine, but good reading for everyone.
Musings of a Distractible Mind
I love this blog and its sense of humor, with a subtitle "Thoughts of an odd, but not harmful primary care physician." The blogger says this has been a destination of the most discerning healthcare reader since 2006. "Come see my elegant assortment of topics, such as: Health care policy, llamas, personal insights from a doctor's perspective, Bob Saget, patient-centered care, body odor, whether it is "Health Care" or healthcare. A final invite to you all: Come visit and see the site that Oprah doesn't dare admit she reads.
Scepticemia: Musings of a Skeptic Oslerphile
Scepticemia is a portmanteau-ed neologism. It is a combination Scepticism and Septicemia. And it is supposed to mean a condition where Scepticism has spread throughout the body (mind). The blogger is a recently graduated physician, who believes that the first step to knowledge begins with the cultivation of skepticism. In this blog, he talks about his brush with affairs that leave him a skeptic. Or asking for more. Or matters which peeve me no ends because they are not in line with reason and logic. Matters where eminence trumps evidence. Where the accepted wisdom of the ages has stilled the growth of newer thoughts.
Storyteller Doc
A wonderful writer, this blog encompasses all aspects of a doctor's life, both on and off duty. It is introspective, funny, interesting, intelligent: all those things at once. A multiple award winning site by someone recognized for, what else? His storytelling.
Wheelchair Kamikazee
Voted the best patient blog, a few years running. Authored by a multiple sclerosis patient. The site covers everything someone in his situation would want to know about. Research news, lifestyle issues, and the complexity of living with MS is here for anyone to learn from and put to use. Mark, the author, has become an authority for many living with MS and his blog is now a true community for many others.
Wing of Zock: Academic Medicine in Transformation
A 2014 Best Blog award winner, WingOfZock.org was created for medical students, residents, faculty members, and administrators at academic medical centers and teaching hospitals. Contributors are encouraged to share success stories, best practices, and lessons learned as you strive to improve the quality of care and prepare for health care transformation.
Specialization
Dr. John M: cardiac electrophysiologist, cyclist, learner
Dr. John M is a medical blog that that began in 2009, for no apparent reason. It commenced on a whim without any grand plan. Then, one thing led to another, and the blogger was hooked. The blogs are about electrophysiology, cardiology, health, doctoring and endurance sports. "We all know that the internet overflows with information on topics that I write about, like AF for instance," he explained. "My goal, therefore, is not to replicate an encyclopedia, but to provide an inside-the-ropes look at things that I know and live."
Dr. Mike Sevilla, Family Physician
Sevilla, a family physician from Salem Oregon states as his blog's "goal", to have a voice for Family Medicine topics for the general public and a potential place for Family Medicine and Primary Care physicians to share a dialogue. He actually started as an anonymous writer in 2006 with "The Doctor Anonymous" blog. Back when he started, he said, he "wanted to bring the reader into the exam room with me to share how it is to take care of patients in the broken US health care system. Although I don't recommend it now, the culture back then was sharing stories about patients. I had no idea that people were interested in reading these stories." They do. And patients and doctors alike will like this most interesting blog.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog
Features instructive ECGs in clinical context: archives, popular posts. An index of all ECGs can be seen on the web page. Dr. Stephen W. Smith is a faculty physician at the University of Minnesota as well as Emergency Medicine Residency, Hennepin County Medical Center.
Dr. Wes: Musings in the life of an internist, cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
Westby G. Fisher, MD, FACC is a board certified internist, cardiologist, and cardiac electrophysiologist (doctor specializing in heart rhythm disorders) practicing at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL, USA and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. He entered the blog-o-sphere in November, 2005. Something else that's cool about Dr. Wes: he likes James Taylor and Allison Kraus.
Go to: http://drwes.blogspot.com.au/
ECG Guru
The ECG GURU is a site for instructors who teach ECG and other cardiac topics. It is a gathering place for teachers to share teaching materials and resources. Materials on the site are offered free of charge, and free of copyright protection if the resources are used to teach ECG classes.
Less is More Medicine
Something for those in the medical field to think about, with postings by Dr. Jessica Otte, who lives and works in Canada. People say that sometimes the hardest thing in medicine is to do nothing, she explains. But even when healthcare providers recommend not starting a treatment or decline to order a test or write a referral, the providers aren't doing nothing. They are thinking carefully about what a patient has said they want, what the evidence has shown to be effective, and what harm might be done by going too far down the wrong path. Discussing appropriateness in care with patients, providers can help individuals make decisions for their best possible care while avoiding harm from unneeded interventions; in the process, the system does not become overburdened with excessive tests and treatments. "In part, by doing less of the unnecessary stuff, we can do more of the right stuff," and that is the focus of this most interesting series of blogs.
Maria Yang, M.D.
Maria Yang, MD, works as a psychiatrist (currently as the medical director for the local public mental health and substance abuse system, and as a staff psychiatrist in a jail), has received recognition for her strong teaching skills, and has maintained a blog about medicine, psychiatry, and observations about life in various iterations since 2000.
Evolution in Medicine Review
Extraordinary. This is a new scientific publication created by and for the community of scientists, scholars, clinicians and teachers working at the interface of evolution and medicine/public health. It differs from a traditional journal/blog as it is dynamic, interactive and more timely. The site provides open access to carefully selected information from diverse sources, along with engaging commentary and opportunities for discussion. This is a free site UNTIL the end of 2014.
Glass Hospital
This blog is created by John Henning Schumann, a general internist and educator at the U. of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine. The goals of Glass Hospital, Schumann says, are: 1. To provide transparency on the workings of medical practice and the complexities of health care; 2. To illuminate the emotional and cognitive aspects of caregiving and decision-making from the perspective of an active primary care physician; and 3. To demystify medicine and improve the health care experience for patients.
33 Charts
The blogger, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Texas Children's Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. His musings and thoughts focus on the convergence of social media, technology and medicine. Present in the health blogosphere since 2006, Vartabedian has been an active witness to the social health revolution and its influence on doctors and patients. Extremely well written and fascinating stuff.
More Specialty Blogs
Adventure Medic
Adventure Medic began in a 2012 as a downloadable magazine for healthcare professionals interested in adventure, expedition and wilderness medicine. From taking a year out in Australia to overwintering in Antarctica: the authors wanted to encourage others to pursue interesting, charitable or unusual paths through medicine. They want to inspire you with tales of adventure, features and educational articles and lift your spirits with stunning photography and breathtaking video. Since the site launched it has become even more dedicated to this ideal, particularly as medical training in the UK has become more and more rigid and uncompromising.
Closing the Gap
The initial aim of this site (don't you love the clever title?) is to publish videos on basic suturing techniques. After this, the author, Dr. Brian Lin, posts more complex clinical cases of acute lacerations, seen by him and colleagues, and discuss and photo-document how they were treated in the ED. Another goal will is to obtain follow up images for these cases to show outcomes for these patients, as Lin believes an important part of self-improvement in wound care is follow up of the patients treated.
Don't Forget the Bubbles
This blog was created by Tessa Davis, Henry Goldstein, Ben Lawton and Andrew Tagg. Their aim is to create a practical, high-quality pediatric educational resource for health professionals. DFTB does this through collaboration – getting more people involved in creating online content and FOAM (Free Open Access Medical Education).
EM PEM.org
Very simply (and to the point), EMPEM.org is focused on Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Emergency Medicine webucation. To the point, articles on the subject are well written and researched.
Pediatric EM Morsels (Pediatric Emergency Medicine Morsels)
The goal of these Pediatric Emergency Medicine Morsels is to continue to enhance and refine the care of pediatric patients. The care of pediatric patients often brings up a myriad of diverse topics ranging from the common to the very unusual. It is difficult to stay abreast of the appropriate management of some many diverse entities, particularly when they may be quite different from those of our adult patients.
Pediatric Education
The goal of PediatricEducation.org is to build a pediatric virtual learning community. The project's hypothesis is that residents, fellows, and staff physicians practicing pediatrics can broaden and deepen their knowledge of pediatrics through the use of a continuing pediatric education program that is delivered daily in small granules and integrated into their workflow in the form of pediatric cases.
PEM Blog
The blogger is Brad Sobelewski, an experienced medical administrator and educator. With his combined interests in medical education and technology he has found a career niche as a skilled teacher and researcher using multimedia and web based tools. His aim is to become an innovator in medical education at the bedside, in the classroom, and in the research realm by asking novel questions about how we use technology to augment the learning and skills of our colleagues and trainees in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
PEM Lit
PEMLit is a resource for doctors and healthcare workers interested in Paediatric Emergency Medicine. Each month, bloggers rummage through the published literature to bring you an appraisal of the latest journal articles in PEM. They will generally include a summary of the paper in the form of an abstract, so those of you who do not have access to the full article can appreciate the headlines from an independent appraiser. The site exists to encourage continual improvement, both in clinical practice and in the standard of published literature. We are always questioning.
Body in Mind
The author wants to better facilitate and disseminate credible clinical science research. He wants to communicate our science better. He wants to side-step, or perhaps leap-frog, the arduous journey that new discoveries make before they have the opportunity to influence clinical practice. What does Body in Mind want to communicate, exactly? Advances and issues in the clinical sciences as they relate to the role of the brain and mind in chronic pain disorders. There are three subplots they would like to convey, summarized by the three ‘C's: complexity, credibility and creativity.
EBM Gone Wild
EBM Gone Wild is a blog discussing articles specific to wilderness topics. It will attempt to explain the evidence (or lack thereof) for the treatments typical of wilderness medicine, usually interjected with some humor. It is written mostly by Justin Hensley, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center/Christus Spohn in Corpus Christi, TX with an interest in wilderness medicine.
EDE Blog
EDE or Emergency Department Echo is a series of educational programs with a decade of experience in teaching POCUS. The EDE blog is a chance to share in this experience with cases, tips, and links to further resources. Have a question? Want to contribute a case or tip to the blog? Check these postings out..or contribute.
EM in 5: What can you learn in 5 minutes?
EM in 5 was created as a series of short conference lectures for the University of Chicago EM Residency. With 5 minute high yield presentations inserted between longer lectures, we hope to keep our hyperactive EM minds attentive while driving home some key points. The next step was to create a video database of these 5 minute topics for all residents and medical students to access. Here's what's really cool: Look for a new 5 minute video every Monday!.
EM Nerd
What fun. Authored by Rory Spiegel, a third year Emergency Medicine resident at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Obviously a Dr. Who fan, Spiegel spends his free time riding in the TARDIS, defending the Wall, and "chasing the wind". In a word, he is a nerd. These blogs are the obsessive rants of an under-experienced, over-opinionated doctor in training. Any advice that involves reversing the ratio of the aforementioned adjectives would be welcomed and appreciated, he says.
Intensive Care Network
The Intensive Care Network (ICN) has been developed to educate, link and stimulate healthcare professionals involved in critical care, based on what we believe to be one of the key characteristics of Intensive Care: the teamwork and collegiality that occurs when like-minded professionals share a common purpose. It is run by a dedicated team of critical care specialists and trainees committed to providing high quality, free medical education and to do it with style.
Moving Meat
The accidental blog of a semi-accidental ER doc living in the Pacific Northwest. This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole.
Mount Sinai Emergency Medicine Ultrasound
This is the website for the Mount Sinai Emergency Ultrasound Division. It serves as an information resource for residents, fellows, medical students and others seeking information about point-of-care ultrasound.
The Poison Review
Blogs are a critical update and evaluation of recent scientific literature, news stories, and cultural events related to the field of medical toxicology. The bloggers' interests are wide-ranging and eclectic, since they take their philosophy from Paracelsus, often called the father of toxicology: "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."
Receiving: The Place for Emergency Medicine
Working in the heart of Detroit, emergency doctors devote their lives to treating thousands of the city's sickest inhabitants every year. This forum serves as an educational resource in presenting interesting cases from the ED and various other aspects of emergency care. Physicians, nurses, and other EM personnel can share their experiences related to EM, whether in or out of the ED setting.
Rural Doctors Net
Rural Doctors are a disparate bunch. Whilst some believe rural medicine is one of the best jobs in the world due to the sheer diversity (primary care, emergency medicine, obstetrics, anaesthetics), it can be hard for the isolated rural doctor to keep up to date. This site is for clinicians who want to keep in touch with the latest in Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAMed) concepts applicable to rural practice, listen to relevant podcasts and share thoughts on typical cases, using info from the wider FOAMed community.
Sono Spot: Topics in bedside ultrasound
The blog spot is a place where the interesting, funny, cool and geeky meet to share their tips/tricks/knowledge of and adventures with bedside focused EM ultrasound. A place to highlight cases, applications and prominent people in bedside US education and research. Here's to satisfied participants and students, lives saved, and spreading the gospel of the ‘Sound!
Takeokun
This blog serves as to highlight discussions and thoughts regarding Resident Medical Education, Point of Care Ultrasound education and performance, and the use of Social Media and technology in Education. The blogger is Jason T Nomura MD RDMS FACEP FACP FAAEM, a Board Certified Physician in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. He currently practices at a large tertiary care facility with over 160,000 annual Emergency Department visits per year.
Thinking Critical Care
Produced by the Critical Care and Ultrasound Institute, the blog's mission is to help bring medicine into the twenty-first century. Their modus operandi is to teach all manner of clinical innovations, particularly bedside ultrasound, but most of all how to integrate it into the fabric of your practice.
Tox Talk
ToxTalk is a toxicology podcast produced by the Division of Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It's mission is to create a fun and educational resource for health care providers about the world of toxicology.
The Trauma Professional's Blog
The Trauma Professional's Blog provides information on injury-related topics to trauma professionals. It is written by Michael McGonigal MD, the Director of Trauma Services at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN. Regions is a Level I Adult Trauma Center, and has partnered with Gillette Children's Specialty Hospital to become the first Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in the Upper Midwest.