INFLUENCERS IN MEDICINE
Follow That Doc !
by MONALISA TAILOR , MD
Disclaimer : When I agreed to write this article , I didn ’ t think we would be in a timeline where Twitter may be on the brink of collapse . As a result , I ’ m including additional aspects of these social media influencers ’ digital footprint .
I ’ ve been on Twitter since the year I graduated from medical school . It was my way to connect with folks who were watching Lost . We would watch every week and share our predictions . It expanded out into a Louisville Twitter community that would do meetups called “ Face time Lou .” It helped me expand my social circle .
When COVID-19 hit , my use of social media channels changed . Particularly at the beginning of the pandemic , we were crowdsourcing from physicians in Italy and New York who were seeing COVID-19 in real time . My social media physicians expanded out that year and these individuals in medicine and in public health continue to help me better understand what we were facing .
Dr . Peter Hotez , (@ PeterHotez ), is a pediatrician in Texas . He was a thought leader when it came to vaccines and particularly that we needed to vaccinate the world in order to get better immunity against the virus . He actually helped create a version of the vaccine that can be made in countries all over the world using supplies they have . www . peterhotez . org
Dr . Eric Topol , (@ erictopol ), is a physician scientist and has been Tweeting and blogging through the pandemic . He has helped predict surges and encouraged folks to take precautions against particular variants like delta and omicron after Christmas . www . erictopol . substack . com
Dr . Scott Gottlieb , (@ scottgottliebMD ), former Commissioner of the FDA , is very active on Twitter . He has been communicating
recommendations about the vaccine and commenting on how we are doing as a nation . He has shared our successes and criticized our failures and is not one to shy away from telling it like it is .
Katelyn Jetelina , (@ dr _ kkjetelina ), aka YLE - Your Local Epidemiologist - has been keeping track of COVID-19 , monkeypox , flu and the other infectious diseases causing havoc . She has a weekly blog and a Twitter feed . She shares her predictions on what is to come in regards to infectious disease . She has been on point in terms of recommendations and especially now when we question when to put masks on and when to get vaccinated . www . yourlocalepidemiologist . substack . com
Andy Slavitt , (@ ASlavitt ), former Secretary of Health and Human Services has been Tweeting and hosting his own podcast talking to thought leaders throughout the pandemic . He ’ s spoken with the Pfizer CEO about vaccinations and what they predict ( COVID-19 ones may become core scheduled vaccines ). He also spoke to thought leaders about monkeypox to get us better informed about that infectious disease , and he is easy to understand . ( Podcast : In the Bubble )
This is just a sampling of some thought leaders on Twitter . I have to shout out Dr . John Mandrola (@ DrJohnM ) for cardiology here in Louisville who shares great information , and Dr . Jennifer Lincoln (@ DrJenLincoln ) who shares great information about gynecology . These are some of my favorite Twitter accounts from physicians who have kept me up to date through the pandemic . For as long as Twitter lasts , these are the folks I ’ m going to find on other realms . I hope you ’ ve found this helpful too .
Dr . Tailor is the Executive Medical Director , Primary Care for Norton Medical Group and is a practicing internal medicine physician at Norton Community Medical Associates : Barret .
December 2022 7