This is a common question that I get from my fellow emergency physicians. They think that social media applications are for people who have nothing better to do than to read/write about trivial personal opinions.
This year, the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) held a workshop on “From Twitter to Tenure”, hosted by well-known educators in the Twitter world:
- @FutureDocs (Dr. Vineet Arora)
- @AlexSmithMD (Dr. Alex Smith) and @Ewidera (Dr. Eric Widera) from Geripal
- @Medrants (Dr. Bob Centor)
- @MotherinMed (Dr. Kathy Chretien)
They each discussed how social media has played a positive role in their academic careers. They also posted summaries on their respective blogs:
- FutureDocsBlog
- Geripal
- Medrants
- MothersInMedicine
Bottom line
Social media develops a brand (or name) for yourself in the digital universe, forces you to constantly improve your writing, helps you build a network of potential collaborators, and opens up a world of opportunities for you.
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