I woke up at 4 am and couldn’t sleep. So I checked my Twitter feed and found that my friend Ronan Kavanagh had pondered a question: Can you trust a doctor who bought followers on Twitter? Then I really couldn’t sleep. I don’t have an answer. And I don’t know how to quickly sniff out a contrived audience. But the idea that we can do this introduces a new truth ... Continue Reading about Would You Trust a Doctor?
The Age of Individual Responsibility in Medicine
As physicians it used to be that people took care of how we looked. We used to be publicly represented by organizations like the American Medical Association and the public affairs office of our local hospitals. Our quotes were carefully chosen. We all looked good and sounded good. But the tools of publication have put us in the driver’s seat. For better or for ... Continue Reading about The Age of Individual Responsibility in Medicine
When Doctors Don’t Want to Participate
I’m exploring a series of webinars for 2014 concerning life online. So recently I had a number of conversations with local physicians about their public/social/digital/online presence. I’m trying to understand their needs. General observation: This group recognized the benefits of global connectivity but had little interest in participating. They knew that there ... Continue Reading about When Doctors Don’t Want to Participate
Why LinkedIn Might Be Good For Teens
LinkedIn dropped its minimum age for enrollment to 14 in the US. This change comes with their launch of their University pages, a new LinkedIn environment for higher education. While I initially saw this as a move to capture warm, unassuming young bodies (which it does), there may be some clear value to having high school students wading in the LinkedIn ... Continue Reading about Why LinkedIn Might Be Good For Teens
4 Reasons to Consider a Surrogate Blog
As online reputation and digital footprint become more important for professionals, blogging has to play into your strategy. Unlike purely social applications, a blog represents one of the best ways to define and park your ideas for others to see. A surrogate blog is on way that doctors without their own blog can strongly impact their digital ... Continue Reading about 4 Reasons to Consider a Surrogate Blog
What Should Medical Students Know About Social Media?
As you may or may not know, I am responsible for fashioning a new curriculum in digital literacy and professionalism for medical students at Baylor College of Medicine. I’ll offer more details over the coming weeks. Until then, I need your help. Concerning digital communication tools and the growing public space for dialog, what the things that you believe a ... Continue Reading about What Should Medical Students Know About Social Media?