What is doc2doc?

doc2doc is a free online community for doctors; a place where doctors with common interests and goals can meet and talk about what matters to them. You can do this on our forums, blogs, or by contacting other doctors directly via the people search. doc2doc has clinical forums covering all major specialties, and a range of non-clinical forums where you can discuss anything from MSF to MC Hammer. If you have a particular interest, or want a place for your hospital or group to meet on-line, you can create your own forum and manage it yourself.

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Who runs doc2doc?

doc2doc is a free of charge service provided by BMJ Group. BMJ Group is a trusted global medical publisher providing a wide range of products and services that improve the decisions doctors make every day. doc2doc builds on these services and provides a secure and independent place where doctors can talk freely with the aim of improving their working life and health care for patients.

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What can I do on doc2doc?

The main aim of doc2doc is to help doctors from across the globe communicate with each other. doc2doc has tools to help you organise hospital events, create a study group, get in touch with old colleagues and find new ones to collaborate with. If you are a registered doctor, you will have access to private forums where you can discuss clinical problems and seek advice from other doctors.

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How do I get access to the clinical forums?

If you are a doctor practising in the UK, you can get instant access to the clinical forums when you register - you just need to tell us your GMC number so that we know that you're a doctor. If you have already registered but haven't told us your GMC number yet, go to your profile page (My Profile) and click edit profile. There you will find a link to update your registration details.

If you are a doctor practising outside of the UK please e-mail us a copy of your certificate of registration with your country's licensing body. Please also include your name and username in the e-mail. If you are not able to do this, or would like to ask us anything about our verification process, please email our community team.

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Why do I need to provide evidence that I am a doctor to access the clinical forums?

We want to provide a forum where doctors can discuss matters that are important to them with other colleagues. To allow them to do this, we restrict access to the clinical forums to practising doctors only.

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I have already registered but still can't access the clinical forums. What should I do?

When you registered, did you supply us with your GMC number? If you didn't or you do not have a GMC number, you will not be able to access the clinical forums until you provide evidence that you are a practising doctor. If you have a GMC number, go to your profile page (My Profile) and click edit profile, where you will find a link to update your registration details. If you do not have a GMC number, please see the section How do I get access to the clinical forums?(link there) for more details. If this does not solve your problem, please email our community team.

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I am a BMJ subscriber. Can I use this account to access doc2doc?

You will still need to register with doc2doc so that you can choose a username and tell us your GMC number. Sign up using the email address you use for other BMJ products for a quicker registration process.

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How do I get access to the clinical forums if I am a medical student?

Please obtain a letter from your medical school on headed paper confirming that you are a medical student and send it to us at community.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com. Alternatively, email us your name and BMA membership number. We aim to process all applications within 48 hours.

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How secure is doc2doc?

The security of your personal details is important to us. All of your personal details are kept on a secure server and we will not share these with anyone. We try to ensure that the clinical forums are accessed only by doctors but we cannot guarantee this. We make random checks of our members so please do not be offended if we ask you to supply further information to confirm that you are a qualified doctor. Please ensure you keep your password safe and do not share it with anyone. For further information about our security measures please see our privacy policy.

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I've forgotten my password. Help!

Don't worry, just click here and follow the instructions.

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I am having trouble registering. Help!

If you are having trouble registering with doc2doc please take a look at our registration guide, which takes you through the registration process step-by-step. If you are still having difficulties please contact us at community.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com outlining the problem � we'll do our best to respond the same day.

How do I customise my profile?

You can customise your profile in lots of ways, from adding your own avatar to providing details about your previous jobs and research interests. To get started, go to the profile tab in My Profile.

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Who can see my profile?

You can decide who sees your profile and recent activity on doc2doc: anybody on the site, just your friends, or no-one at all. You can change this setting on your profile page (click the profile tab in 'My Profile'). The default setting allows your friends to see your profile.

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What makes a good post?

There are no hard and fast rules for creating a new post. If something interests you, such as a piece of research, news story, or clinical problem, it is likely to interest others on doc2doc.

Just like in a face-to-face conversation, try to make your answers informative, concise and well constructed. Try to back up any claims that you make by linking to some supporting evidence.

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How do I create my own forum?

Creating your own forum is quick and easy: just click on the 'start your own forum' button on the forums navigation page and follow the instructions. When you create your forum you must decide whether to leave it open for all members to join or whether to restrict access to members that you approve. This option cannot be changed once the forum has been created. As the creator of your forum you can use the admin controls box to: invite your friends and colleagues (via email or doc2doc); edit the forum name, subheading and avatar; add links; and upgrade members to manager status. Managers help you run the forum by being able to delete posts, invite new members and add links.

If you would like to remove your forum please click the 'request forum deletion' button from the admin controls box. If your forum has not had any activity for several months we may contact you to ask if you would like us to delete the forum for you.

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What are RSS feeds?

An RSS feed is an easy way to keep up to date what is happening on a forum. If you subscribe to a doc2doc RSS feed, the latest comments, threads, videos and pictures from your chosen forum will appear in the bookmarks area of your browser - you can check this whenever you are online and see what's happening on the forum. You can subscribe to an RSS feed on any forum you are a member of by clicking the 'subscribe' button within the chosen forum.

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How do I find other doctors?

Finding colleagues is as simple as typing in their name into the 'People Search' box. You can also search for members by their specialty, country, grade or interest. For each member that the search finds you will be able to view their name, country, specialty and grade. You will not be able to see their username or avatar unless you are their friend. Once you have located the member you are looking for, you can request to be their friend and send them a private message.

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How do I start a blog?

We are keen to encourage a broad range of blogs and bloggers from the medical profession, from personal blogs about the experience of being a doctor to blogs about research and advances in healthcare. If you would like to write a blog, please contact enquiries.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com with your blogging idea.

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What are your rules for abusive or disruptive comments or users?

Please refer to our terms and conditions for our rules on abusive users and comments. If you feel that somebody has broken these rules we urge you to bring this to our attention through the 'report abuse' button that appears next to all content on the site. With your help, we can ensure that any abusive, defamatory and inappropriate content is removed as soon as possible and maintain a high quality of discussion and interaction on doc2doc.

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How do I report offensive comments?

Should you find any doc2doc content to be in breach of the Code of Conduct please use the 'report abuse' button that accompanies all content on doc2doc. When you have clicked the report abuse button you will be asked to select what type of abuse has occurred and have the option to include a message with your report. Please include as much detail as possible when making an abuse report.

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One of my comments has been removed from the site. Why? Can I get it put back?

Should the doc2doc community management team remove your content, we ask that you do not recreate that content. If you feel that your content has been unfairly or mistakenly removed, please contact the community team at the following email address community.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com.

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I am a BMJ subscriber. Can I use this account to access doc2doc?

You will still need to register with doc2doc so that you can choose a username and tell us your GMC number. Sign up using the email address you use for other BMJ products for a quicker registration process.

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How can I get more involved with doc2doc?

These are exciting times at doc2doc and we are always looking for people to help us build the community and develop the site. If you would like to get more involved please email us at enquiries.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com with your ideas and suggestions.

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How can I get more involved with doc2doc?

These are exciting times at doc2doc and we are always looking for people to help us build the community and develop the site. If you would like to get more involved please email us at community.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com with your ideas and suggestions.

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Becoming a founder member

doc2doc would like to thank our early members who have helped to build the site in its early days by giving you the opportunity to become a founder member.

To become a founder member you need to make regular contributions to the doc2doc forums or blogs during the first three months from your initial registration. If you post 5 comments per week during this time or over 100 posts altogether you will become a founder member. As a founder member you will:

• Be recognised on the doc2doc website.
• Be sent a letter of thanks for you portfolio.
• Be invited to doc2doc community get-togethers in London.

We will be establishing a doc2doc advisory board made up from our founder members, which will be formed later this year. If you wish to be considered for a position on this board, please contact Dr. Tom Nolan at tnolan@bmjgroup.com.

To register your interest in becoming a founder member please send us an email: community.doc2doc@bmjgroup.com

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