Ready to “go social”? Medical professionals can gain terrific exposure online – but with so many social networks available, how do you know which ones to utilize?
Social media is a part of our daily life. It can no longer be called a fad, it’s here to stay. If you have not embraced it yet, it’s time to re-think that position and move into the digital age. The more common technology become in our daily lives, the more dependent we will become on it. To eschew that for irrational reasons is to miss out on the future.
Originally, social networking was just that – social. Businesses didn’t take it too seriously as a way of promoting them self. Most didn’t anyway. Over time, that changed and so too did the way they used them in that manner. While individual websites are still king in many regards, without social media they are often lost in a sea of similar offerings. However, there are also social networks that exist solely for medical professionals.
The advantages of these are obvious. For one, it makes finding and connecting with similar professionals easy. Another advantage is these platforms tend to be very secure. An oft overlooked advantage are opportunities for professional growth such as receiving CME credits. While features differ from site to site, here are some of our favorites as well as why we like them.
Doximity is regarded as the best physician-only network available with over 50% of the physicians in the US being verified members. Because it is mobile friendly, secure and HIPAA compliant, this is one of the most efficient ways to connect with peers wherever you may be. As a member, you also get your own digital fax number to facilitate further transfers of information. Doximity is responsible for over 10 million physician-to-physician connections and growing. CME credits are available for reading medical journals onsite as well.
SERMO is the only serious challenger Doximity has. SERMO is also only for licensed physicians and in broad terms offers the same things as Doximity does. There is one major difference, however, and that is that SERMO allows for a high level of anonymity when posting to the site. This has obvious advantages and disadvantages, and SERMO is not HIPAA compliant. None-the-less, SERMO is very good at connecting professionals and boasts over 300,000 members worldwide.
The best way to describe Figure 1 is to say it is basically Instagram for doctors. Photos are shared rather than text posts and registered users can then exchange medical information regarding them. They even have groups catering to special interests. It sounds simple and it is, but that in no way detracts from how effective it is as a learning and diagnostic tool.
QuantiaMD, launched in 2006, is the oldest of the social networks of its kind. Its strong suit is that it is a great resource for career development and collaboration. QuantiaMD requires verified identities onsite – no anonymous profiles or posting. There are features that provide the opportunity to earn CME credits or “Q Points” which are redeemable for Amazon gift cards as well as monthly contests.
Not using social? Start today – you can’t afford to be left behind!