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22 Twitter Accounts Surgeons Should Follow

We’ve had many conversations with ophthalmologists, orthopaedic surgeons and everything in-between.

Inevitably, at some point, the conversation turns to Twitter and social media… How does it work? Do I need to be on it? Should I log on every day? Isn’t it just for kids and people who share what they ate for lunch? I’m busy – is there any benefit, at all, for me “to Twitter”?

The quick answer is: Yes, there are benefits to Twitter. This is especially true if you follow the right people.  Even though Twitter is a can of worms new to most medical practitioners, there is a growing number of them who share valuable, thought-provoking content.

Biggest Benefit of Twitter for Surgeons

This is one of biggest benefits of joining Twitter: advancing your professional knowledge, while simultaneously growing your personal connections by networking with colleagues in your specialty.  Commonsense advice is to follow surgical societies, surgical journals, and leading surgeons (both domestic and international).

Doing such allows you to learn about the latest research, discover upcoming events, and read opinions from notable surgeons.  Additionally, you should follow other non-surgeon physicians, and patients, who are positively-effecting the medical industry.

List of 22 Twitter Accounts to Follow

It was with this in mind, we decided to create a list of 20 Twitter accounts every surgeon should be following.  In no particular order, here we go:

  1. Kevin Pho, MD [@KevinMD] — He has 136K followers, regularly blogs on his website, and has a score of contributing doctors and surgeons who contribute their own blog posts.  He touts his blog as, the web’s leading destination for proactive physician commentary on breaking medical news.”
  2. Mike Sevilla, MD [@DrMikeSevilla] — He has 23K followers, tweets regularly, is known for being a social media advocate for physicians on Twitter, sprinkles in some lighter pop culture tweets, and hosts his own show on Blog Talk Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/drmikesevilla).
  3. American College of Surgeons [@AmCollSurgeons] — With over 25K followers, the American College of Surgeons is the largest professional organization for surgeons who’s mission it is to advance the quality of surgical care through research, education, accreditation, and advocacy.
  4. Atul Gawande, MD [@Atul_Gawande] — Dr. Gawande has over 157K followers, practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is Executive Director of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and is a staff writer for The New Yorker, and author of four books.
  5. Brian Goldman, MD [@NightShiftMD] — Dr. Goldman has 105 followers, is an ER physician, hosts CBC’s top-rated White Coat, Black Art, is the author of ‘The Night Shift’ & ‘The Secret Language of Doctors’, and tweets regularly.
  6. Gavin Preston, MD [@GavinPrestonMD] — Author of the upcoming book “The Managed Care Blues: My journey through a broken health care system and how we can fix it”, Dr. Preston garners 39K followers, is a 34-year cancer survivor, and tweets about the healthcare system issues and medical trends.
  7. Scott GottliebMD [@ScottGottliebMD] — Dr. Gottlieb has over 33K followers, is a practicing physician, author, American Enterprise Institute Fellow, former FDA Deputy Commissioner, and CMS official. He’s also a regular contributor to Forbes, analyzing policy, regulation, and public health.
  8. Wen Dombrowski, MD [@HealthcareWen] — This geriatrics physician executive practices and commentates at the intersection of technology, business, policy, healthcare, and social innovation.  She has almost 30K followers and is very active on Twitter.
  9. Joseph Kim, MD [@DrJosephKim— With 31K followers, this President of MCM Education, an education and publishing company incorporated in 1995 that develops CME (Continuing Medical Education) in joint-sponsorship with accredited providers, is a digital health geek, MIT-trained engineer, and physician executive.
  10. American College of Sports Medicine [@ACSMNews] — The ACSM is the largest sports medicine organization in North America, and around the world. Tweets are mainly related to the organization’s publications and other sports medicine news. The ACSM has over 49K followers.
  11. Ross Tucker, PhD [@ScienceOfSport] — Dr. Tucker is the Professor of Exercise Physiology with the School of Medicine of the University of the Free State, in South Africa, the scientific and research consultant to World Rugby, and ambassador and scientific advisor to Virgin Active and Adidas.  50,000 people follow him.
  12. National Academy of Sports Medicine [@NASM] — With 44K followers, the NASM is the premier provider of education and credentials for fitness, sports performance, and sports medicine professionals.  They are the world’s foremost resource for health and fitness information and industry best practices.
  13. Howard Luks, MD [@HJLuks] — Dr. Luks is an Orthopaedic surgeon who’s very active on social media with over 33K tweets and 20K followers.  He also has a blog with resources about sports injuries, sports medicine, health, and digital healthcare initiatives.
  14. Val Jones, MD [@DrVal] — This power tweeter, and founder behind Better Health LLC, a network of 130 plus medical bloggers, which includes content partners like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Physicians, and Harvard Health Publications, has just under 24K followers.
  15. Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD [@berci] — He has 61K followers, tweets regularly, and is a speaker, blogger, consultant, and founder of Webicina.com, a collection of curated social media resources.  He is a self-proclaimed Medical Futurist and geek doctor, with PhD in genomics.
  16. Jay Parkinson, MD [@JayParkinson] — Jay Parkinson’s a pediatrician and preventive medicine specialist who’s also the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Sherpaa.  Fast Company called Parkinson the “doctor of the future,” and he was listed as one of the Top 10 Most Creative People in Health Care – he has 7,000+ followers.
  17. English Institute of Sport [@eis2win] — This UK-leading institute delivers a range of performance-impacting sport science, sport medicine, technology, and engineering solutions to Olympic and Paralympic sport athletes.  They have over 18,000 followers.
  18. Andy Franklyn-Miller, MD [@AFranklynMiller] — He’s a sports medicine physician, who reviews four research papers on exercise, performance, and biomechanics each week.  He has over 18,000 followers and considers himself the leading sport and exercise medicine specialist.
  19. David Geier, MD [@DrDavidGeier] — This orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist tirelessly promotes sports safety and shares his expert knowledge through his website, with publications and weekly podcasts. Founder of Sports Medicine University and Author of That’s Gotta Hurt, he has 7,000K followers.
  20. Columbia Surgery [@ColumbiaSurgery] — The Columbia University Department of Surgery has over 18,000K followers and has tweeted almost 20K times.  Follow them to stay abreast of surgical specialties, health news, and clinical trials.
  21. Best Doctors [@BestDoctors] — Best Doctors promotes diagnostic accuracy via physician collaboration and social media, while bringing together the world’s best doctors to find right diagnosis and treatment.  They have over 6,000 followers and tweet regularly.
  22. Dr. Zubin Damania [@ZDoggMD] — With 13,000 followers, he sings, raps, and, occasionally, practices medicine.  He uses comedy to make medicine fun and accessible on his Twitter feed, which is refreshing (and shows that doling out health advice doesn’t have to be boring).

Conclusion

If you’re hesitant to get started on Twitter, are a newbie, or are simply looking for better thought leadership in the medical field, following these influential Tweeters is a great start.  They will help you stay in-the-know about the latest health news, wellness tips, healthcare policy, and more.

They’re using social media to engage with patients and colleagues, and so should you!

Garrett Smith

Garrett is the Founder, and Chief Marketer at InboundMD. Garrett has been successfully leading internet marketing campaigns for health care practices across the US for almost a decade. He's a frequent speaker at events, and author of "Book Now! Internet Marketing for Healthcare Practices", and the host of The Practice Marketing Podcast that details how successful practices are winning online.

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