Reddit and What I Found There

I've heard mentions of Reddit every now and then, but I've never been on the site.

I will now evaluate the site and determine if I can use it for my research project.

The two accounts that I thoroughly explored seemed to be composed of mostly medical students and young residents.

"Medical Team at the Hospital". via shutterstock.

Account 1
Meddit

• Topics Discussed

• AMA regulations, links to funny videos (parodies of songs, relating to medical field), hospital stories, hospital rules, hours/pay of attending physicians and residents 
• less formal, community sense when discussing regulations and hours

• Interesting Debates

• "Ridiculous" hospital policies discussion
• Someone asked the people what they thought was the most ridiculous rule at the hospital they worked at. People were very responsive and talked about parking issues, who is allowed to handle what equipment, linen policies, and who has to get called in to file an order.

• I found this informative and amusing at the same time. Some of the issues were silly and others I had no idea existed. I like that the tone on the discussion is rather informal and it just sounds like regular people talking. It makes the field seem more "real" in a way.

•  Work hours and pay of residents discussion
• There is a link provided to an article that tells the story of how a UW medical resident was put under so much stress during her pregnancy, she was taken out of work by her doctor due to medical issues caused by overworking. Details are given about salaries, debt, living costs, and rough hours of residency. In the discussion, people are outraged and sharing their own experiences and thoughts on the issue.

• I found this interesting, because it is a significant issues for medical residents. Since I hope to be in their shoes someday, these are factors I have to consider and think about.

• Overall Impression

• This site is definitely less formal than the others I have explored, so there is a lot more information here. However, because of this, it is less credible. 
• I expected these topics to be covered, but the informal tone really surprised me.

Account 2
Medical School

• Topics Discussed

• medical residencies/fellowships, medical questions, advice, med student lifestyle questions
• younger people, usually undergrads, med students, or young residents

• Interesting Debates

• Questioning career path discussion 
• A pre-medicine student has expressed doubt over whether they want to still attend medical school. Current experiences are discouraging because some physicians the student is working with are unhappy. The student is on reddit to try and make a list of pros and cons with the help of others.

• I found this interesting because it pertains to my life. Not because I doubt whether I want to go to med school, but because it is important to know the pros and cons of your prospective field.

• White coat honors discussion 
• A user questions why other schools that are not medical schools have white coat ceremonies at their graduaion. They believe this takes away attention from the doctors graduating from medical school. Other people have replied either agreeing or disagreeing and sharing their experiences.

• I found this interesting because it does not really make sense to me. My initial reaction was that the white coat should be used by anyone who wants to at a graduation. It serves as a symbol for dedicating a career to helping people. I never thought this was an issue, so it surprised me.

• Overall Impression

• These discussion threads are informal and read like an anonymous Twitter. I would consider this site to look into potential issues, but I would conduct the majority of my research elsewhere.

What is your opinion on reddit?