Social media provides an essential platform upon which physicians can network and collaborate with colleagues. However, many physicians are unaware of its hidden dangers, which could have devastating consequences. According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, women physicians in particular face potential biases and limitations when navigating social media. Whereas 48% of male physicians reported that social media use expanded their research portfolio, only 36% of female physicians reported the same. In addition, 39% of male physicians responded that social media use led to speaking engagements, compared with 30% of female physicians.
According to Vineet Arora, MD, dean of medical education at the University of Chicago’s Biomedical Sciences Division, social media lends itself to being a more negative, hostile environment because people filter themselves less under the veil of internet anonymity and physical distance. Female physicians using social media often unwittingly put themselves in a position of being attacked for their looks, receiving offensive messages, or being harassed in other ways. Nonetheless, Arora suggests that medical professionals must engage in social media in order to ensure that their patients have a source of responsible, accurate information. According to Arora, social media is also a career necessity, as it is an essential brand-building tool for physicians, with regard to obtaining both employment and patients.
The presence of female physicians on social media is necessary in order to improve its diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the COVID-19 pandemic further increases this need. According to an article on Medpage Today, the pandemic has regressed female advancement in the medical field by a generation, leading to the risk of fewer female promotions and professional advancements. These effects are felt both in the field and virtually.
Regression can be combatted, however, with the use of social media to promote professional advancement via virtual platforms. By serving as a positive, unified force on social media, female physicians can work together to make it a safer space. Actions like positively acknowledging one another’s comments goes a long way, decreasing the likelihood of a male physician taking or receiving credit for a female physician’s comments. According to Women of Impact in Healthcare, another strategy for safeguarding female physicians on social media is the creation of a group that touts each other’s accomplishments, thereby providing them with a means to advertise their accomplishments without feeling awkward. One such group is the Women in Medicine Summit (WIMS), an organization devoted to closing the healthcare industry’s gender gap. Platforms like Facebook have their own female physician groups like Physician Women Leaders, a group where female medical professionals can communicate with one another in a safe, supportive setting, Other social media avenues for female scientists and medical professionals include IMPACT$HC, Dear Pandemic, and SciMoms.
