Social Media plays doctor

Changing with the current world full of Twitter updates and Facebook status messages, the field of medicine has also plunged into the ever growing world of social media. Social media has now been in and around for some years, and has created quite a rage. People from all age brackets, belonging to a varied amount of sections in the society are active on the assortment that the social media websites provide. From celebrities to teachers, and now doctors, social media has been consistently used as an online portal which keeps one informed in the domains that one is interested.

A survey released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that 61 percent of Americans go online for to check on information for health issues, and the majority of them have turned to user-generated health information which has been available through social media. Blogs, forums and Facebook pages are flooded with queries about health issues, and the doctors are now turning to them, to provide people with advice they actually need and require, hence creating a unique, one to one patient – doctor relationship. This not only helps the patients to be at peace, but also helps doctors and prospective medical students to learn through a newer medium, which redefines the meaning of ‘hands-on’.

Citing a recent example, an Indian orthopedic surgeon, Dr. A.K.Venkatachalam, did a Twitter cast of a knee surgery, while he was at it! Containing details of the entire procedure, the doctor believes that the tweets would be of vital use for prospective post-graduate doctors who wish to choose surgery as a career option. He also reiterated on the fact that the social media has brought about a huge change in the way medical studies were taken in earlier times. The physicians also feel that the social media gives them a sense of responsibility and help give the current environment of health care a new perspective.

In yet another unbelievable incident, which was abuzz all over the social media websites, was the initiative of a woman, Mrs Jackson, from New York, to tweet during the abortion of her child, constantly tweeting right from the operation theatre. She also created a step-by-step video of the abortion to be posted on YouTube and regularly updated her blog posts about the happenings during the process. Trying to develop a whole new following of people, and creating a new perception about abortion in the minds of people, Mrs Jackson opted for the social media network to bring about a change in the way people think.

With the social media creating a safe environment for support and assistance, the masses are taking an easy breathe. Across the length and breadth of the globe, there are a million people who are willing to offer some help or lend some support to anyone who is in need. The focus has now shifted from commercialization to actualization. Not only social media has become a stage to offer services, but has also turned into an area to learn, grow and develop as an individual from the medical arena.

Tags: Blog, Facebook, Medicine, Social Media, twitter