If you’re going to school to become a doctor or a nurse, you know about the long hours, loads of memorization, tough courses and mind-boggling clinicals that can quickly become a part of your everyday life, often at the price of your social life and sleep. All of these things can add up to some pretty serious stress, frustration and exhaustion. In order to avoid burnout and help you keep your sanity, it can be important to vent your feelings. Talking to friends can help but if you want something more anonymous, a blog can be a great way to vent your medical school woes.

People have long known that writing can be an incredibly cathartic and mentally helpful exercise when you’re stressed or are going through a tough time. Since medical school is generally offers up generous helpings of both stress and toughness, writing can be an excellent way to help maintain at least a modicum of sanity while you’re in school. You can write about your difficulties with courses, frustrating encounters with patients, or even your personal life. Your writing is just for you, though if you choose to publish it to the web in a blog, there are likely hundreds of other med students out there who can share in and commiserate with you about what you’re going through. Sometimes that support can be a big help when you’re feeling worn out and stretched thin.

Starting a blog is relatively simple and can be done on a variety of sites for little or no investment on your part. Simply sign up and start blogging. How you choose to design your site, what you choose to write about and who you choose to be able to access your work is entirely up to you. And if you’re looking for a little inspiration on what to do on your medically-themed blog, you’ll find that there are thousands of other health care students and professionals out there who are already sharing their day-to-day experiences. Use their blogs to learn and bond as you start out with your own site.

Of course, as a medical professional there are some special concerns you’ll need to keep in mind. You need to make sure you protect the identities of all your patients by changing not only names but other details that could let anyone in the outside community know just who they are. You’d want your own privacy respected, so make sure you respect theirs. Additionally, unless you’re making your blog private, be careful about what you say regarding professors, your school and your free time activities. The internet is permanent and once you put it out there it can be hard to get it back.

After that, the only thing left to do is to enjoy having a blog that lets you vent and get all the stress, annoyances and difficulties of going to medical school off of your chest.