Join us Wednesday, August 30 at 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT for a live, interactive tweetchat with Linda Girgis, MD, on how to handle antivaxxers in your practice. Topics to be discussed are subject to change but will likely include:
- The current status of the antivaxxer movement in the United States.
- Why, despite evidence behind the safety & efficacy of vaccines, there are still antivaxxers.
- The most important things for clinicians to know about antivaxxers as a whole.
- The first steps to teak when met with a patient or parent of a patient who is an antivaxxer.
- The most common arguments seen/heard among those who don’t/won’t vaccinate themselves or their children.
- Whether or not antivaxxers with these arguments can be educated to the point of changing their minds, and if so, how.
- How to combat antivaxxers who say mainstream media claims vaccines are safe and effective with no unbiased proof.
- How to combat patients and parents who view physicians as consultants who advice can be freely rejected or accepted.
- How to educate patients–such as antivaxxers who site single cases as “studies”–on how to better understand study results.
- The effect of redirecting resources toward counseling antivaxxers or those questioning vaccines.
- Whether or not parents who refuse to immunize their children should be dismissed from a pediatrician’s practice.
- More…
How to Join the Chat
- Log into your Twitter account. Don’t have an account? Where have you been?! Just kidding, we don’t judge, but you should get one! It’s easy to create, and free. You’ll be glad you did.
- A couple minutes before 9:00pm ET on August 30, Search Twitter (top right of every Twitter page) for #PWChat.
- On the search results page, click Latest at the top left. This will show you all the latest tweets using the #PWChat hashtag. The page will automatically update every couple minutes, letting you know how many new tweets there are using the #PWChat hashtag.
- Answer questions, reply to other’s comments, or make a comment of your own as much and as often as you like. Just make sure to leave room in include #PWChat to make sure what you tweet is included in the chat. Otherwise, it won’t be seen.
- While you’re at it, be sure to follow @physicianswkly and @DrLindaMD!
About Dr. Girgis
Dr. Linda Girgis MD, FAAFP is a family physician who treats patients in South River, New Jersey and its surrounding communities. She holds board certification from the American Board of Family Medicine and is affiliated with both St. Peter’s University Hospital and Raritan Bay Hospital. Dr. Girgis also collaborates closely with several universities and medical schools where she teaches medical students and residents.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Dr. Girgis attended the St. George’s University School of Medicine and successfully her medical degree. She went on to complete her internship and residency at Sacred Heart Hospital, a program affiliated with Temple University. During this time, she was recognized as intern of the year by the faculty. Over the course of her practice, Dr. Girgis has continued to earn awards and recognition from her peers and a variety of industry bodies, including:
• Top Innovator in Healthcare award by Quality Insights, 2006
• Patients’ Choice Award, 2011-2012
• Compassionate Doctor Recognition, 2011-2012
• Bridges to Excellence Recognition 2012-2015
• NCQA Physician Practice Connections – Patient Centered Medical Home, 2012-2015
She is an Advisory Board member for Sermo. Additionally, she is a blogger for Physician’s Weekly and MedicalPractice Insider as well as a guest columnist for Medcity News and Health IT Outcomes. She published articles in several other media outlets. Recently, she has authored the books, “Inside Our Broken Healthcare System” and “The War on Doctors”. She has been interviewed in US News, on NBC Nightly News, and many other media outlets. Dr. Girgis’ primary goal as a physician remains ensuring that each of her patients receives the highest available standard of medical care.
