Later today, I'll be presenting at my medical school alma mater which is the Northeast Ohio Medical University. I've been invited to talk at an event called the Master Teacher Guild Chief Resident Symposium. I was asked to talk about Social Media and Medicine. The title of my talk is "Five Essential Social Media Tips For Physician Leaders." Here's a preview of the talk...
Tip #1: Ask Yourself: What's Your Story?
I'm going to start with sharing my social media story going all the way back to the "Doctor Anonymous" days. I also want to point out that if/when you start producing content for social media, there is a certain amount of transparency that needs to take place to gain & grow your audience. Even if you're doing patient education in social media, sharing part of yourself in your content will add some authenticity to what you write and record.
Tip #2: Protect Your Online Reputation
Especially for physicians-in-training and for medical students, it is very important to be aware of what you place on social media and the internet. As many have asked, like @Doctor_V, "What is your social media footprint?" I've been telling physicians-in-training, medical students, and undergraduate students that it will (if not already) be common practice "to google" and "to facebook" as part of the application process. If people don't like what they see, then you could be compromising your future
Tip #3: Be Aware Of The E-Patient
Every day in my office, patients ask me about information that they find on the internet. Future doctors cannot ignore the internet, and need to embrace the rise of the e-patient. Patients are part of virtual support groups, networking with other patients, and even creating their own content on the internet.
- Video: Kerri Sparling changing the song on her insulin pump
- Video: Medical student podcast about having breast cancer as a medical student
Tip #4: Watch Professionalism In Social Media
Sharing patient information on the internet is just as bad (if not worse) than talking about patients on the elevator. I'll be sharing some examples of missteps that have occurred in social media. Groups like the Ohio State Medical Association have guidelines and tool kits for physicians/providers on how to approach social media in medical care.
Tip #5: Find & Share The Best Social Media Examples
- Video: Ken Jeong American Heart Association Hands-Only CPR (Stayin Alive Baby)
- Blog: Future of Family Medicine Blog
- Hospital system educating patient's hospital colonscopy experience
- Physician clinic facebook page well done: Avalon Park Pediatrics
- Patient Education: Seattle Mama Doc 101
At the bottom of this post, you'll see some of the slides I posted to my slideshare account. I'm going to try something different in that I didn't give the meeting organizers a powerpoint to distribute to participants. I will direct the meeting participants to this blog post for notes and for the slides. We'll see how that works. I'll also try to videotape my session and post here. Would love your feedback on any of this! Thanks so much!