For a whole variety of reasons most cardiologists are not really comfortable diving into social media. For some reason they’re more comfortable remaining poolside, reading Braunwald or the latest mini JACC or Circulation than writing a blog or interacting with each other or their patients on Facebook or Twitter. Most cardiologists who do get their feet wet send out a few isolated tweets or posts and then disappear into the great digital void. So here’s a special shout out to a few brave cardiologists who are at least making an effort (feel free to add to this list in the comments section):
Cardiologists Chris Cannon and Herb Aronow, and cardiology fellow Michael Katz, regularly tweet about cardiology. Some big names like Harlan Krumholz and Bob Harrington are sporadic tweeters, providing behind the scene glimpses at events like a PCORI meeting or an ACC Board of Governors meeting. Electrophysiologist John Mandrola didn’t just get his feet wet but took a big belly dive into the social media pool, actively tweeting, blogging on his own and over at that other cardiology website, and contributing to newspapers and big sites like KevinMD. Eric Topol is a prolific tweeter, but he rarely seems interested in cardiology these days.
Jay Schloss deserves special mention for live-tweeting a closed Riata symposium and then keeping CardioBrief readers fully informed about each major development of this important case as it slowly unfolded this past year. Westby Fisher is the great grandfather of all cardiologists in the blogosphere and twitterverse, though lately he’s pulled back a bit, foolishly deciding that his medical practice and family life are somehow more important than his social media standing.
Finally, though he’s not a cardiologist, Lancet editor Richard Horton deserves special mention. He took to Twitter like a duck to water, though not everyone was so pleased by all his preening. As I wrote earlier this year, it was impossible not to be fascinated by the occasional glimpses he provided of the dark underside of medical publishing. He’s toned this down a lot lately, but on occasion he still has some amusing comments on the rivalry (real or imagined?) between his journal and the New England Journal of Medicine. But if you’re not interested in the politcs of the World Health Organization or the British medical establishment you may not want to follow him these days.
Late entries:
- Eiman Jahangir, a cardiologist/scientist in New Orleans.
Thank you very much for the kind mention. I am proud to be counted in such fine company.
Another cardiologist new to social media is my partner Dr William Dillon @wmdillon. Bill joined social media to help promote his cause: improving acute MI care in Kentucky–which currently ranks 49th out of 50 states. He wants KY to be more like North Carolina. In an old-boy state, that’s a tall order.
The other reason I’d consider following Bill is that he is an interventional cardiologist who understands well that squishing blockages does nothing to change the disease process of atherosclerosis. Even though he makes his living fixing disease that has already happened, he is passionate about getting his patients on the heart-health program.
Colin Rose cardiologist, Assoc Prof, McGill
writes an iconoclastic blog
medicalmyths.wordpress.com
I think regular interacting, expressing oneself on any topic,liking, sharing on facebook and tweeting is beneficial for mental and cardiac health….
So proud to make the list. My “second job” as cardiology reporter/tweeter has been intellectually invigorating and opened new doors for me.
Thank you so much, Larry, for giving me this platform to speak (and for being a first rate editor).
Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season and productive 2013,
Jay
Thanks for the mention, Larry.
It’s been a pleasure getting to know you over the years and I must say, I appreciate your timely grammatical and typographical corrections. 🙂
Here’s wishing you another happy and healthy New Year!
-Wes
Very interesting the way doctors have adapted to social media. It can be a very educational tool.