Physicians On Twitter

How are physicians using Twitter, the social media internet phenomenon? What are medical doctors tweeting about? American Medical News, published by the AMA, recently reported about physicians on Twitter. While we’ve explored Twitter’s various uses for medical professionals here on About.com Health Careers, the American Medical News takes a closer look specifically from the physicians’ perspectives, regarding how they use Twitter now, and how they plan to use Twitter in the future, if at all, in relation to their medical practice.

The article finds that hospitals use Twitter for marketing purposes, but most physicians use it to build a community of other clinicians, and eventually, to connect with patients, as more healthcare consumers jump on the Twitter bandwagon. The physicians interviewed seem to agree that it’s difficult to predict what role Twitter will play in their practice, but they also agree that it most likely will maintain a role of some sort. Whether Twitter is used in marketing, public health education, or general communication amongst other physicians or with the patient population is yet to be determined.

• Twitter for Medical Professionals
• Social Media and Healthcare
• American Medical News Report