Club Culture

One important aspect to remember is that doctors exist in a "Club". The club involves accepting certain types of doctors within their fold. To be that certain type of doctor - you need to be Registered with the GMC [ Club], a BMA member [ Club], a practicing NHS Doctor, a member of Doctors.net.uk. That is the criteria. If you do not have one of those, you aren't accepted in the esteemed club/fold. You are then considered an outsider and they deal with you at arms length. It is safer that way for them because they don't have to address ideas that are not within their limited worldview.

Indeed, the Shipman Inquiry and Dame Janet Smith told us all that a club culture existed. It certainly exists on the internet.

I noted a post early today on Jobbing Doctor. JD is a General Practitioner or so he says. His mates are listed on his website here. He laments over the loss of a number of bloggers. This is what he says

"It seems to me that the only 2 active bloggers are Nurse Anne and Dr Grumble. We have effectively lost Mousie, the Brown Stuff, A fortunate man, Dr Rant, and Nice Lady Doctor. NHS Blog Doctor seems to have gone into hibernation for now"

Only 2 eh. How JD's memory fades. I ought to thought point out that the first and oldest blogger on the block was http://www.nhsexposed.com developed in 2001. After us, Dr Crippen came into force and became infamous because clearly what a invisible doctor says is more important that one who names herself. We all accept that because Crippen is a talented writer although his Guardianista influence has rendered him next to toothless recently. He appears to have lost the edge to his controversial writings. Following him, a number of bloggers came to the forefront of the medical blogsphere. There aren't just 2 bloggers as Jobbing Doctor may have us believe. There are many many more. Jobbing Doctor knows of all these bloggers himself. He says this because he belongs to the select club who chat together and write together. They include the above.

The other notable medical bloggers are as follows -

1. Scientific Misconduct - Run by Dr Aubrey Blumsohn - Whistleblower.
2. GMC Human Rights - Developed by Dr Helen Bright Consultant Psychiatrist
3. Doctor Bloggs - Developed by the animated and talented Dr Elizabeth Miller
4. Witchdoctor - Developed by The Decrepit Witch
5. Bad Medicine - Developed and Maintained by Dr No.
6. Ferret Fancier - Developed and maintained by Garth, a hospital doctor.
7. The Cockroach Catcher - Developed and maintained by a very talented retired doctor.

They all work harder than the trumped up invisible consultant Dr Grumble who moans so much that we often wonder whether he does any work at all. He is the kind of consultant who probably eats too many grapes while Rome burns - and lets face it, his profession is burning but he doesn't even have the balls to name himself - nevermind challenge the status quo.

I decided to write this because Jobbing Doctor has made a second catastrophic mistake, the first being to tell Pulse that I had a GMC sanction when I never have had one. It took almost 6 months to correct this error. We all had creepy apologies from Pulse and JD but it amazes me how mistakes like this happen from competent doctors and editors. I suppose JD will say he is only human - well, I know JD's real name. If I wrote " Dr JD was suspended from the GMC Register", he would have something to say about it if it remained online for 6 months plus. But as usual, there isn't any remorse here for disastrous mistakes because we have to simply accept they are all human and accept the fact that neither the editor of Pulse or a senior qualified GP like Jobbing Doctor are able to do basic things like read the material on the GMC Register before putting pen to paper.

On this occasion, Jobbing Doctor - whether done on purpose or just on a whim is showing that he believes that only he, Dr Grumble and Dr John Crippen are the only medical bloggers worth listening to. He tells us there are only 2 bloggers on the medical blogsphere. Well, thats a outright fib and I am not really sure what JD was trying to achieve by this. It is quite true a few bloggers have run off because the dragons at the GMC are breathing down everyone's neck but there are still a few brave souls remaining as listed above.

It seems to me that there are a lot more active medical bloggers than Jobbing Doctor would have us believe. I do not for one minute believe that this was a careless mistake. I do though believe that Jobbing Doctor's head has got too big for the Google door and because these boys originate from the spineless brain numbing social networking forum Doctors.net.uk, they all support each other and club together, vote for each other, feature and quote each other and tell themselves that they are the most famous bloggers of them all.

This is therefore a version of the old boys network - but in this case we have the camaraderie of senior doctors who feel that only they exist in the blogging world and only their ideas matter.

So lets smell the roses shall we and make a statement that other doctors do exist, they have a lot to say in the blogging world - and quite frankly it is important for the public to develop a perspective from all sides - not just the side of three old whinge bag senior doctors - one consultant and two GPs - who to this day haven't got the balls to name themselves. For all we know, they may be pretending to be GMC Registered doctors. After all, we know next to nothing about them even to this day.

It has been like this in the medical blogging world for a while. It is called the Club Culture and I get irritated with it because it serves to encourage narrow minded thinking and non acceptability of others who are perceived as a little different. Jobbing Doctor's club is admirable but there is always a 360 degree side to medicine - and there are more than 2 bloggers to tell the public about it. Well, I hope we aren't going to see the Michele Tempest style of self voting - this Psychiatrist infamously voted herself as one of the top bloggers some years ago. Jobbing Doctor and his club of old men are heading towards the same skull extension. I suppose soon he will tell us that there is only 1 medical blogger left - thats him.