I thought I would give a quick overview of good ways for you to make use of Twitter at a medical conference. The growing field of palliative medicine has had a strong social media presence and the addition of more people into our online network helps get important information to people far beyond the patients and families we see each day in our work.
Twitter can be a great way to capture the small ...
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I started writing a blog when I began medical school, knowing that even though I was close to home I might not have as much time for keeping in touch with family and friends as I was used to. Writing it anonymously, or under a pseudonym, was a possibility that never even crossed my mind – it seemed it would defeat the purpose of being able to share my ...
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I sense a movement in health care circles from, "no way we’re doing that social media," to "ok, we get it social media is important, now what?"
This is good to see. But like all things new, we’re experiencing some growing pains. Some health care providers take to social media easily and find ways to leverage it to educate, inform and grow practices, while others make efforts but can’t seem ...
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Back in 2004, after I was accepted into Stanford University, a friend of mine at the university took me around on a campus tour. He showed me the building he lived in (Donner), his cafeteria (Stern), Hoover Tower, and all the usual sights. When it came time for him to tell me more about his classmates and dorm buddies, he promptly pulled up a webpage on his computer. "You have ...
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Recently, Kevin Pho wrote about a physician, Alexandra Thran, who was disciplined by both her hospital and the state medical board for writing about a trauma patient she had seen. Although Dr. Thran hadn't divulged the patient's name, enough information was conveyed that allowed others in the community to identify the patient in question.
That story really freaked me out. Because, as you know, I sometimes write about my ...
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In the course of doing research on the future of social media in health care, and hearing from a group of doctors who believe there isn’t one in their practice, I also talked to a few future physicians. Three to be exact, from different parts of the United States, a third year student, a student on the verge of enrolling in a US medical school, and the one ...
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Google "anonymity medical blogs" and you will find many takes on this. Some anonymous med-bloggers advocate the value of sharing real-life stories, but to me that comes loaded with layers of conflicts of interests. We all have the right to be anonymous, but is it always a good idea to do it just because we can?
I started my first blog, Chick Lit MD, in December of 2009. By the time I began filling out my medical school applications I had been actively blogging for approximately 7 months. As someone interested in the intersection between medicine and media, the use of social media was integral to my exploration of both fields. As such, I included my adventures in social media in my application ...
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Social media holds a lot of potential for the health care professionals. Is fear of the medium inappropriately leading to professionals avoiding this "social situation"? Have we created a social media anxiety syndrome? We are aware of the social anxiety disorder or social phobia. Among its many features are (this is a convenient list for the purpose of this post and not a strict definition):
Occasionally, my vocation of treating obesity and my avocation of health care social media intersect.
This is one of those moments. This is the story of a health care social media betrayal in which obese children and e-patients are the victims. Nobody died, except medical ethics, good judgment, and trust in doctors. This is WebMD’s Health Care Social Media Disaster.
Recently, WebMD published the following “advertorial” from Kellogg’s: "Mums, kids & breakfast: The ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
Matthew Moeller, MD | PhysicianA gun owner responds to Sandy Hook
Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
Jeffrey Parks, MD | PhysicianIf I’m wrong about guns, can you please explain why?
Claire McCarthy, MD | PhysicianPrimary care doctors may no longer be needed
Doug Olson, MD | PhysicianWalgreens moves into primary care, and it’s our own damn fault
Kevin Pho, MD | Kevin's Take