Social media usage among physicians and their practices has increased steadily in recent years. But now, a rapidly expanding segment of healthcare providers – from general practitioners to surgeons – is turning to social media as an outlet for their expertise and insights.
Physicians have adopted social media “as a platform to provide education and awareness of emerging technologies and new advances within a given specialty,” says Dr. Robert Glatter.
In fact, the growing trend of FOAM, or free open access medication, has significantly transformed how medical information is shared and transferred among emergency medicine physicians. The progressive concept of a “flipped classroom” model along with the notion of “asynchronous learning” have changed the way some physicians now approach medical education.
“Dissemination of podcasts and online lectures via Twitter, Facebook, along with other file sharing applications, now facilitate the rapid transfer and sharing of medical advances which can potentially save lives and improve medical care,” Dr. Glatter writes in Forbes.
With lingering concerns about America possibly “running low” on doctors and nurses in the coming decades, social media may be exceedingly beneficial in slowing the anticipated shortage of healthcare professionals.
“When social media is used in an educational fashion, it can help to share knowledge and increase awareness, further creating interest in a specific field of medicine,” Dr. Glatter concludes.
