Physicians writing on KevinMD about being a physician in public: professional presence online, patient privacy, online reviews and reputation, medical misinformation, and how clinicians use social platforms to teach, advocate, and connect. KevinMD itself has been a case study in this since 2004.

The question doctors on social media should ask first

Social Media in Medicine
September 1, 2026

It sounds like a ridiculous question. Until you’re a doctor with a social media following and you know the parents of the child you’re worried about are watching.

Before COVID, I loved the spontaneous, ridiculous moments that broke up the intensity of hospital life. Flash mobs with nurses. Dancing with OR staff. Laughing with ICU doctors. Small moments of silliness among people doing very serious work.

Then COVID hit, and the dancing …

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The question doctors on social media should ask first

Why real medical experts must become medical influencers

Social Media in Medicine
July 1, 2026

We live in a world of over 5 billion global internet users, all connected in ways we have never seen before. We get to see the most secretive parts of people’s private lives: their morning routines, their shower routines, and their “Day in the Life” vlogs.

Yet, for decades, the daily work of a doctor remained a hidden mystery, at least to anyone outside the medical world. It wasn’t like a …

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Why real medical experts must become medical influencers

3 changes physicians on social media need from institutions

Social Media in Medicine
June 8, 2026

After a scribing shift, I opened TikTok and found myself inside a growing hub the internet calls “Doc-Tok,” a thriving community of health care professionals sharing clinical takes, career glimpses, and the unfiltered reality of working in medicine. What I did not expect was how much of it was fear. Providers describing terminations over comments that any other member of the public could post freely. Nurses parsing their captions for …

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3 changes physicians on social media need from institutions

Why health influencers shape patients, not prescriptions

Social Media in Medicine
June 5, 2026

You might recall when patients arrived with a blank slate of symptoms, and diagnosis began with your clinical judgment. That blank slate is now a distant memory. Before your patient meets you, they have already spent weeks or months scrolling through a digital universe that is actively changing how they understand and interpret their own symptoms. The influence of digital media on all aspects of health care is here to …

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Why health influencers shape patients, not prescriptions

LinkedIn for physicians is not optional in 2026

Social Media in Medicine
May 21, 2026

A physician without LinkedIn in 2026 is making a business mistake, a reputation mistake, and a public health mistake.

This is no longer about keeping up with social media. It is about controlling your professional identity in a world where search results, AI summaries, recruiters, hospital leaders, journalists, patients, and even opponents look you up before they call you. LinkedIn reports more than 1.3 billion members worldwide. That makes it one …

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LinkedIn for physicians is not optional in 2026

Social media’s impact on the nursing workforce and student enrollment

Social Media in Medicine
January 22, 2026

A nursing student recently told me she had decided not to apply for bedside roles after graduation. Not because of her clinical rotations. Not because of faculty advice. Because of what she sees every night on TikTok. Her feed is filled with short videos describing unsafe staffing, emotional exhaustion, hostile workplaces, and nurses counting down the days until they can leave the profession. She knows these posts reflect real experiences. …

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Social media’s impact on the nursing workforce and student enrollment

Scammers stole my doctor identity on Facebook

Social Media in Medicine
December 8, 2025

15 years. That’s how long I’d been building my Facebook presence from grammar school friends to medical school colleagues, from former patients to the professional community I’d cultivated as a medical oncologist. Two years ago, I converted it to a business page to share evidence-based cancer information.

Then scammers stole my identity to sell fake cancer cures, and Facebook banned me while they stayed active.

The impersonation

It started with a message from …

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Scammers stole my doctor identity on Facebook

First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

Social Media in Medicine
June 16, 2025

If you’re a physician or practice owner, here’s a challenge: open a browser and Google yourself. Now ask a trusted friend or family member—ideally someone who fits your ideal patient profile—to do the same. What do they see?

Do you show up in the top three listings?

Are there recent reviews with 4+ stars?

Does your website look current—or like it hasn’t been touched since 2012?

For most patients, that quick glance is all …

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First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

What teenagers on TikTok are saying about skin care—and why that’s a problem

Social Media in Medicine
June 10, 2025

“We’re six minutes in now, and she’s applied almost ten products.”

That’s how Dr. Molly Hales begins the video abstract for her recent Pediatrics study on TikTok skin care trends. The clip she’s referring to features a young girl layering product after product—acids, toners, serums—each promising glowier, cleaner, brighter skin.

This child isn’t an outlier. In a recent study analyzing 100 viral TikTok skin care videos posted by users aged 7 to …

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What teenagers on TikTok are saying about skin care—and why that’s a problem

How social media and telemedicine are transforming patient care

Social Media in Medicine
May 7, 2025

In today’s digital world, health care is no longer confined to hospital walls. Social media platforms are influencing health behaviors, while telemedicine technologies are redefining patient-doctor interactions. But are these innovations improving health care, and what are the risks, if any? This article explores how digital platforms, namely social media and telemedicine technologies, are reshaping patient care and bridging gaps in education, access, and engagement.

For many, social …

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How social media and telemedicine are transforming patient care

How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup

Social Media in Medicine
April 19, 2025

An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General.

“I’ve had two major messages that I’ve tried to get out to the public all my professional life,” Koop proclaimed. “One is to take charge of your own health. The other is that there is no prescription I can give you that is more valuable than knowledge … I’ve tried the non-profit world, …

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How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup

How I escaped the toxic grip of social media

Social Media in Medicine
April 10, 2025

Social media is an incredible tool for staying connected with loved ones and the world. But sometimes, I wonder, are we truly connected? Or is this connection merely an illusion?

I was addicted to social media. I believe this addiction began in 2012, during my first year of medical school. That’s when I asked my father to install an internet connection, claiming it was just for study purposes. It’s a common …

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How I escaped the toxic grip of social media

Why doctors must fight health misinformation on social media

Social Media in Medicine
January 29, 2025

A tweet on “X” (formerly known as “Twitter”), dated Jan. 2, 2024, and attributed to Elon Musk stated:

“… heavy use of C-sections allows for a larger brain, as brain size has historically been limited by birth canal diameter.”

For some reason, this statement was recently circulating on social media, even though it is a year old. I first came across the statement in a Facebook group for physicians, where a colleague …

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Why doctors must fight health misinformation on social media

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I was trolled by another physician on social media. I am happy I did not respond.

Social Media in Medicine
May 21, 2024

I enjoy using social media (SoMe). These social communications-based, user-generated platforms part of Web 2.0 can be a great way to eat up time while scrolling mindlessly through funny posts, “how-to” cooking videos, or find breaking news updates (while being mindful of source reputation, of course). In medicine, SoMe can be an exceptional tool to combat medical misinformation, evolve …

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I was trolled by another physician on social media. I am happy I did not respond.

Social media: Striking a balance for physicians and parents

Social Media in Medicine
May 4, 2024

We live in an always-on, information-overloaded, highlight-reel, echo-chamber world. Medical practices are increasingly relying on mobile applications and social media for communication, service promotion, and education. How can we balance social media and device use—arguably imperative activities for many of us—with the other things in life that matter? And how can we, physicians using these programs both personally and professionally, serve as role models for our families and communities?

I recently …

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Social media: Striking a balance for physicians and parents

Why your doctor has an OnlyFans

Social Media in Medicine
January 12, 2024

I read an article yesterday about a teenager who became suicidal after his classmates learned that his mother had an OnlyFans account. Ironically, I have a 12-year-old son, and I had just created my own account. I shared this news with my son, and his first question was, “Is your face on it?” The second question was, “Is your name on it?” and the last question was, “Why are you …

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Why your doctor has an OnlyFans

Regulating social media’s effects on mental health

Social Media in Medicine
September 4, 2023

There can be no denying that, since its mass-scale introduction, social media has encompassed more and more of our lives, particularly in the lives of young people. As of 2022, among teens ages 13 to 17 years old, 95 percent report using social media, with more than half reporting that it would be hard to give it up.

As this technology has grown, so has its grasp over …

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Regulating social media’s effects on mental health

Why building your social media following is critical to your practice’s success

Social Media in Medicine
July 7, 2023

Scrolling through social media, you might come to believe that it’s only for models, foodies, and cute dogs. While these types of accounts are certainly popular, the truth of the matter is that social media is a powerful tool you can use to propel your practice forward. With it, you can create meaningful content that changes lives, gain a loyal band of followers, and, ultimately, bring an incredible amount of …

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Why building your social media following is critical to your practice’s success

Physician burnout: the impact of social media on mental health and the urgent need for change

Social Media in Medicine
May 6, 2023

Burnout is an increasingly common phenomenon affecting approximately 63 percent of physicians. The etiology is multifactorial, with excessive workloads leading to sleep deprivation and curtailed self-care. Social media is a significant contributor to burnout that we easily overlook.

Perhaps we’re looking for an escape on social media, but is more screen time what we really need?

How does social media use contribute to burnout?

Let’s face it; social media is a time vacuum. …

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Physician burnout: the impact of social media on mental health and the urgent need for change

From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

Social Media in Medicine
March 20, 2023

In a growing social media world population, one cannot ignore the technological invasion of the medical world. From the discovery of penicillin to electronic medical records and the digital health revolution, real medical revolutions are not too many.

However, social media is disrupting the medical ecosystem and how we practice medicine. Information to the public is moving from a “push system,” where the teacher or the publisher decides what information to …

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From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

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