Need your valued input: Funding stream strategy for ALiEM

MoneyOver the past 4+ years, ALiEM has grown to be an exciting educational blog which focuses on the clinical, educational, and academic aspects of emergency medicine. It has far exceeded any of my expectations and has been an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience for me personally. Since its inception, the site has transitioned from a single-author site to a site with a superstar team of authors who cover a diverse range of clinical (e.g. cardiovascular, critical care, geriatric EM, pharmacology) and educational (book club, MEdiC series, educational pedagogies) content as well as an expert peer-review system. As now the blog’s Editor in Chief, I am constantly amazed that we have been successful on pretty much a small, self-funded budget. Going forward, I now realize that the blog’s continued growth and creative strategies are rate-limited by funding. 

MoneyOver the past 4+ years, ALiEM has grown to be an exciting educational blog which focuses on the clinical, educational, and academic aspects of emergency medicine. It has far exceeded any of my expectations and has been an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience for me personally. Since its inception, the site has transitioned from a single-author site to a site with a superstar team of authors who cover a diverse range of clinical (e.g. cardiovascular, critical care, geriatric EM, pharmacology) and educational (book club, MEdiC series, educational pedagogies) content as well as an expert peer-review system. As now the blog’s Editor in Chief, I am constantly amazed that we have been successful on pretty much a small, self-funded budget. Going forward, I now realize that the blog’s continued growth and creative strategies are rate-limited by funding. 

We value your opinion

I foresee the hundreds of hours that goes into this site as a challenging endeavor to sustain long term with continued high-quality standards, unless we start planning for an operational budget. I have always had a blanket rule NOT to cross the line towards revenue-generating affiliations, such as banner advertisements and paid backlinks, to avoid seeming biased or insincere in our educational mission. But now I at least wanted to hear your opinions because once this line is crossed, I feel that it’s impossible to uncross. Am I being overly paranoid? Am I correct to stay away from ads? Should we open up a bake sale instead? Suggestions are welcome.

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Author information

Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

The post Need your valued input: Funding stream strategy for ALiEM appeared first on ALiEM.

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