What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? If you’re like millions of Americans, you roll over, grab your phone, check your email and visit your favorite social media sites.
Many use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for entertainment, to network for business, as their daily news sources or as a way to keep in touch with friends and family. It should come as no surprise, then, that physicians are utilizing social media as a means to connect, share and learn from other physicians. As a physician yourself, if you have a moment throughout your day to engage in social media, you may want to strongly consider learning about the following five most popular social media sites for those in your position:
- Doximity
Doximity is like Facebook for physicians, connecting physicians to other physicians they already know. The company claims to be the largest medical professional network in the United States, with more than 60 percent of clinicians as members. The site boasts functionalities and features such as HIPAA-secure communication, a job board, tools to earn and track CME credits and data on compensation trends for a provider’s specialty and geographic area.
- Sermo
Sermo is one of the biggest, most successful social networks for doctors to collaborate globally. It’s a physician-only site that is often called a “virtual doctors’ lounge,” allowing providers to anonymously ask questions about anything and everything, including the practice of medicine and business management.
- DailyRounds
DailyRounds is a clinical case site for doctors and medical students. DailyRounds presents clinical cases in a journal-like manner so that physicians can read about short cases and even share some of their own.
- Ozmosis
Ozmosis verifies the identities of its members to ensure that only U.S. licensed physicians join. Once members, physicians can access knowledge feeds that are similar to Facebook’s friend feed. These knowledge feeds provide continuous updates of new journal clubs, cases, questions and videos.
- QuantiaMD
QuantiaMD is an online community with more than 200,000 registered members. An active community, these physicians learn from faculty members who teach at some of the top medical institutions. Physicians can participate in short expert presentations and collaborate with each other to deliver better care for the patients they serve.
Online communities provide physicians with access to countless resources, including articles, experts in the field, colleagues and networks. These sites also give clinicians a place to share cases, disseminate research and engage in health advocacy. As technology is constantly changing and social media sites tend to come and go, some sites will likely die out and be replaced with newer, more robust solutions. No matter how long these sites last, however, social media sites can play an important role in the advancement of healthcare and will undoubtedly shape the way physicians share information, ideas and career interests.
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