In academic medicine, promotion depends on the weight of our curricula vitae, measured primarily by the number of papers we publish in peer-reviewed journals. Physicians strive to jump through the hoops of publishing their work in “top” journals ranked by the “impact factor” (yearly average number of citations for a given journal). Yet the “impact factor” of these journals — even those considered most prestigious and most impactful — is summarily dwarfed by the impact of those we can reach with the use of social media and online platforms. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter receive thousands of posts per second, and these posts are accessible to billions of people worldwide. If we truly want our work as physicians to have an impact on the world around us, would this not be a better way of reaching patients and fellow health care providers than publishing in journals that reach only a handful of sub-sub-specialists (and only if their institution decides to pay for a subscription)?
Many physicians post on social media using both medical sites such as KevinMD, Doximity’s Op-Med and others as well as non-medicine specific sites, like the New York Times or the Atlantic. These op-eds, stories, and commentaries are heartfelt and meaningful pieces which may take just as much time and effort as accumulating a host of references from PubMed or listing the strengths, weaknesses and generalizability of ones’ research in a standard-format discussion section for a peer-reviewed paper (or entirely re-formatting said paper when rejected by the first journal and sending it on to a second). However, there is no spot on our CVs to list these online “non-peer reviewed” pieces of work. Not, at least, any spot that is reviewed or considered by promotions committees at most academic institutions.
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
