Humans in Healthcare: Chapter #3

Hey there!

As I continue to work behind the scenes to bring you incredible stories from healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers, for this chapter I wanted to share some tidbits about my experience building in public, in the hopes that it might inspire you.

Tech teams are known to conduct retrospectives, which are meetings to learn and improve, generally held after a product or feature is released. Another way of thinking about them is a time to reflect on the past to inform the future (my sweet spot!)

So consider this a retrospective: clinician creator style ✌️

If you are a non-clinician reader, stick with me! Learning from other’s perspectives is how we can reach across the spaces and build bridges that we desperately need in healthcare and in life. I think you’ll find something in here just for you, too.

Enjoy!

Retro #1: There is no clinical decision support tool for creating as a clinician

_{(For those unfamiliar, a clinical decision support tool is intended to provide timely information to clinicians to inform decisions about a workup, treatment, or plan of care. UpToDate is an example commonly used).}

Here we are, Chapter #3 of Humans in Healthcare and…I already changed my newsletter platform 😅

Though I’m not new to being creative, I am newer to the online creator life, and as a newbie, I was a bit paralyzed by all of the choices for newsletter or marketing platforms.

I was using the free version of Convert Kit, which was great, but felt more mature for my needs and not totally my style, which is a bit more blogletter (blog/newsletter?!?). Substack is quite popular for this, but it felt too generic. I stumbled upon Beehiiv and so far, the UI/UX for writing feels natural and just right for me. I also want to more easily share my posts, so Beehiiv it is! For now. Kidding, kidding, _hopefully…

And, just in case you missed my first two chapters, you can find them here.

As I was evaluating platforms, my friend Preston Alexander reminded me that there really isn’t a wrong choice.

And, he’s right.

I haven’t always thought this way. As a clinician, it’s tough to embark on the creative unknown, outside of the evidence-based practice and clinical decision support that we are trained on and accustomed to. As clinicians, we understand the consequences of our choices can be catastrophic if not thought through. Though we do live in a lot of gray, there can be a wrong choice with significant outcomes.

What I’m finding in the creator life, however, is there is no clinical decision support tool for creating as a clinician. There isn’t a right or wrong choice, rather, what is right for me and my authenticity.