Young doctors have to juggle a huge workload, so it’s not surprising that many don’t use Twitter or other social media. But Brian Secemsky, MD, an internal medicine resident at the University of California, San Francisco recently wrote a story on Huffington Post outlining the benefits of the twitter-verse for young physicians. He notes that Twitter can serve as a good source of medical knowledge and writes:
By choosing a good mix of these medical profiles, especially those that tweet links to high-yield content, you are able to create an individually tailored and constantly updated curated source of medical information, freely available at any time.
(@StanfordMed is one of those profiles, in our humble opinion)
He also points out that Twitter is a good way for up-and-coming physicians to interact with others in their specialty and a place to for them to voice opinions about topics important to them. Also, these days, doctors have a presence online whether they plan to or not, so it’s best to take control of that image. Secemsky writes:
Whether you like it or not, your professional image will likely end up on the Internet. It may be through the increasing patient use of physician rating websites or your own institution displaying your professional profile and accomplishments. It will be difficult to avoid the impact of the online community in your medical career.
Previously: How can health-care providers better leverage social media to improve patient care?, More reasons for doctors and researchers to take the social-media plunge, Subjects for doctors to avoid when using social media, How, exactly, can Twitter benefit physicians? and How can physicians manage their online persona? KevinMD offers guidance
Photo by Kooroshication
