Michael Joyce is a writer-producer with HealthNewsReview.org and tweets as @mlmjoyce
Perhaps it was inevitable that the physicians featured in this podcast would emerge as both reluctant and eager in their approach to blogging and social media in general.
Reluctant, because they’ve traditionally approached medical information, and the people who need it, as a deeply scholarly and personal pursuit.
Eager, since they’re charged with teaching, doing no harm, and likely can’t help but notice that a good deal of medical news has shown significant potential to undermine those objectives.
This story is about four doctors who have eagerly embraced blogging – and other forms of social media – and their reasons for doing so.
If you’d like to learn more about the physicians featured in this podcast, as well as their social media presence, here they are in order of their appearance in the podcast:
Blog: Weighty Matters … it covers all things nutrition, obesity, and weight loss in a very user-friendly way that usually doesn’t require background in science.
Blog: Health Care Renewal … for those interested in a physician’s in-depth read on the impact of policy, politics, and industry on health care. There’s also quite a bit on evidence-based medicine and conflicts of interest.
Blog: The Skeptical Scalpel is a real person. He’s been know to take off his surgical mask and a fair number of people know who he is. He’s supposedly ‘retired’ but you’d never guess it reading his blog. It covers an amazing range of topics and is an engaging read.
Blog: Her blog is a great resource for most things related to breast disease; especially breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. She’s also co-moderator of the Breast Cancer Social Media (#BCSM) Community.
Each of these doctors has had his or her voice featured on our website, either as an expert story reviewer, blog contributor, or as a source for something we’ve written. Here is where you can find those insights from breast surgeon Attai, nutritional expert Freedhoff, former surgical department chairman Skeptical Scalpel, and health policy/evidence-based medicine expert Poses.
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