Key Takeaways
- The Student Doctor Network (SDN) supports students with free career and study tools.
- SDN offers profession-specific resources, forums, and guidance for medical career advancement.
- The platform is nonprofit, ad-supported, and avoids monetizing user data or information.
- SDN’s lack of financial planning resources is balanced by advisory services like Physicians Thrive.
The Student Doctor Network was designed to change this—to give medical students (as well as pre-med students and graduates) access to fact-checked resources and guides.
This review provides more details about the SDN and its operations. Keep reading!
Table of Contents
What Is the Student Doctor Network?
The Student Doctor Network is a volunteer-led non-profit that puts the community first.
It brings together different resources, fact-checks them, and provides unique insights to its users and readers.
SDN isn’t just focused on those who are looking to advance their medical careers; it also connects practicing physicians and specialists in their field with the network and resources necessary to increase their earning potential, gain peace of mind, and regain some time in their day.
How The Student Doctor Network Helps Its Users
The website is organized by profession, including:
- Medical (MD – Allopathic and DO – Osteopathic)
- Dental (DDS and DMD)
- Optometry (OD)
- Pharmacy (PharmD)
- Podiatry (DPM)
- Psychology (Psyd and PhD)
- Rehabilitation Sciences (AuD, OTD, DPT, PhD)
- Veterinary (DVM)
Each section provides a catered library of resources for the specific audience. These resources include
- Med school prep checklists
- “How-to”-style admission guides
- Pre-made planners designed for medical students
- Opportunity finders
- Test site reviews
- MCAT study prep resources
- A library of fact-reviewed articles and Q&As with top experts
- Career guides help you with challenging situations, such as negotiating salaries or getting fired.
- An active and strictly moderated community forum
With all these resources, the site is valuable for pre-med, medical students and graduates, and current practicing physicians.
Pre-Med Students
The most helpful resources for future healthcare students are:
- The Specialty Selector
- MCAT Study Schedule
- Q&A/AMA Articles
The specialty selector allows you to explore every resource available to pursue a particular path. While this does not focus on highly specialized fields, such as different types of surgery, it does help you choose which education you’d like to pursue and weigh the pros and cons of your selected passion.
For example, visiting this site as an aspiring dentist will give you access to all the guides and planners necessary to start your journey.
Medical Students and Graduates
Students already in medical school can find many tools here to advance or prepare for their medical career after their studies.
The activity finder, for example, is a carefully built tool that provides you with many opportunities around your field, including:
- Medical and Clinical Work Experience Locator
- Research Experience Locator
- Shadowing Experience Opportunities
- Local Volunteer and Community Service
Physicians
Physicians can still greatly benefit, especially if they are just opening their clinic or finishing residency. Most of the tools available advertise opportunities but may not be useful for someone who is already established or has a few years under their belt.
For physicians, the articles and forums are a great way to network with others in your specialization. There are also a variety of articles that focus on your finances, such as budgeting, malpractice insurance, tax planning, and investing.
How Much Does The Student Doctor Network Cost?
SDN claims that its site exists to offer a nonprofit service. We’ve scoured the website to determine any additional fees and costs that could occur.
This claim turns out to be 100% true. SDN is a non-profit educational organization whose site is kept running by volunteers, regular donations, sponsorships, and expert article submissions.
Articles and experts who speak on different topics are rigorously vetted before they are allowed to disseminate their information on the site.
Upon reviewing the site, we found no sponsored posts or affiliate links; there are simply unintrusive banner ads that sometimes appear at the top or bottom of the page, which third-party providers provide.
Overall, it seems that SDN is not only free in terms of monetary cost but is also free in that it doesn’t capture your data for resale.
Student Doctor Network Mission
The mission statement for the Student Doctor Network website is to “provide free, independent, and unbiased information to students” and ” (offer) an education website that is dedicated to building a diverse doctor workforce.”
As stated above, this originally meant going beyond the counselors and advisers offered by some established educational institutions, which either did not have enough resources to mentor each student or took a more generalized approach to handling the information demand.
SDN utilized the power of the growing internet phenomenon at the time to create a website that contained all the information necessary to pursue your studies and where to seek additional guidance.
This was revolutionary at the time, as many were using the power of the internet for entertainment rather than for informational purposes, much less so without seeking to turn a profit. Fast forward to today, social media, blogs, websites, and articles are constantly being created in an attempt to either:
- Attract a following to monetize through sales of goods and services, such as consultations and survey reports
- Offer free, generalized information while capturing an audience; sell this information to more giant corporations for advertisements and re-targeting efforts.
This is why the site monitors all information coming into sight for tracked marketing, stealth advertisements, and overall generalized, useless, or low-effort data/information.
Every sponsor, poster, and partner is carefully scrutinized to tie into the mission statement that the SDN is upholding 23 years later.
In 1999, the year of its inception, SDN was a series of multiple websites tied together. Since then, many websites that fit the same niche and category have joined the network.
Sites such as Medschooldiary.com, MedSchoolReady, MD Applicants, and Scutwork became part of the SDN brand.
Other Social Networks for Physicians
While the SDN provides more than enough resources to thrive in the medical profession, having access to other social networks can provide an added advantage.
Below, we’ve provided other networks you might be interested in as a physician.
Doximity
Like SDN, Doximity claims to have an extensive network of active US physicians, including doctors, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare professionals.
It allows physicians to connect, collaborate on patient cases, and stay updated on the latest medical research.
Doximity also offers features like a digital fax service and tools to help with career opportunities, including telemedicine. Its popularity is due to the ease of professional networking and its comprehensive physician directory.
Sermo
If you’re looking for a more open network—one not restricted to the shores of the US—Sermo might be your best option. What’s even more interesting is its anonymous format.
This ensures you can freely discuss challenges, medical trends, and treatment options without fear of judgment or professional repercussions.
Sermo also conducts real-time polls to gather opinions on various health issues, which help to improve clinical practice based on crowd wisdom.
Among Doctors
Among Doctors is on this list because of its knack for trustworthiness. The network ensures that all its physicians are verified, thus providing an environment for quality medical discussions.
While its restricted access ensures that only practicing physicians contribute, it also ensures conversations are evidence-based.
The Rounds
The Rounds is a Canadian-based social network designed for physicians to collaborate and share knowledge. As a physician, you can participate in specialized communities based on your field of expertise.
This network also offers access to resources like clinical guidelines and research papers, making it a solid educational tool like the SDN.
Conclusion
SDN is a great resource for students, graduates, and already-established physicians. With forums specially designed to handle major medical career paths, one can expect to get the best help available.
However, compensation reviews, financial articles, and mitigating risk are vital topics for your clinic or profession that seem to be lacking on the site.
This is why advisory groups like Physicians Thrive play a vital role in every physician’s career. Our services not only offer you access to updated information, we also provide you with the necessary tools to help you thrive.
