Faculty are becoming more social-media savvy
Despite Twitter's broad appeal and millions of users, Dr. John Leonard, the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology, had little experience in using it professionally. But that changed last fall, when he attended Weill Cornell's inaugural Social Media Summit. Today, Dr. Leonard is a shining example of the effective use of social media by physician-scientists, the event's organizers say — and Dr. Leonard, who is also the director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office and associate dean for clinical research, is happy to be tweeting, too. "I'm using Twitter every day now," he says. "It's a quick way for me to catch up on research and to keep up with what's happening at Weill Cornell and elsewhere."
A snapshot of Weill Cornell Medical College's Twitter feed.
Tweeting from @JohnPLeonardMD, he has amassed more than 880 followers who now have access to his thoughts on new research and endorsements of colleagues' accomplishments. "I have found it to be a fun, nice way to reach out to a reasonably broad audience," he says. But it's not just about sharing. Social media offers a way for Dr. Leonard and others in the medical community to engage in an online conversation — a back and forth that's as much about taking in information as it is putting it out there. "It has connected me with colleagues and patients," he says, "helped to publicize our clinical and research programs, and allowed me to learn about ideas and activities of many others, both within my field and from outside areas of interest."
Social media is playing an increasingly vital role in research and clinical care. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platforms can facilitate collaboration, spread the word about new discoveries, aid in recruitment for clinical trials, help doctors connect with prospective patients, and much more. Social media's growing importance in the medical sphere prompted Weill Cornell's Office of External Affairs to host the summit, which included 38 hand-picked faculty members. "We chose a range of faculty who were familiar with social media to meet with colleagues who are relatively new to it," says Larry Schafer, vice provost for external affairs. "We wanted to show how social media can help them amplify their scientific messages."
In a period of shrinking federal grants, as Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, noted in her remarks at the summit, it's of the utmost importance for institutions like Weill Cornell to tell the public what they do and why their work is necessary. Online platforms offer an immediate and direct way to highlight cutting-edge work. "Social media provides us with a valuable forum to further emphasize our scientific messages and to showcase Weill Cornell's reputation as a leader in biomedical research, clinical care, and medical education," she said.
Schafer says that in the aftermath of the summit — which included talks and hands-on activities in small groups — there was a surge in the use of Twitter, LinkedIn and microblogs among Weill Cornell faculty. Its success makes it likely that similar events will be held in the future, he says, stressing that professors are being encouraged to adapt social media use to their own needs and interests, not the other way around. "If a faculty member's communication style is a PowerPoint presentation to 300 people in a lecture hall, they can use social media to get that lecture out to a wider audience," Schafer says. "We're not asking anyone to switch from e-mail to Twitter, but to give social media a chance to prove itself."
These days, he says, more professors are seeking tactical and practical support on the subject from experts in External Affairs, and some departments and divisions are embracing social media to better publicize their patient care and research activities. "Branding their services is important," Schafer says. "When they open a new clinic or office, that news has to get out to the lay person. And scientists in general could be doing a better job of explaining why their research is important, especially to the general public."
Dr. Brendon Stiles, an associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery, was among the more media-savvy participants going into the summit. His goal in attending, he says, was to optimize his use of Twitter with networking utilities like LinkedIn. But as it turned out, the summit was a great forum for meeting colleagues he'd previously encountered only online.
Dr. Stiles, who specializes in lung cancer surgery and tweets to his more than 1,200 followers from @BrendonStilesMD, notes that sharing best practices is vital to advancing his work as a researcher and a teacher. And he and Dr. Leonard both emphasize that it's important to monitor information on medical websites pertinent to their fields. Patients, they say, can Google themselves into a state of fear and frustration searching for information on their diseases and conditions. Twitter can help doctors serve as gatekeepers, halting the spread of misinformation and directing patients to sites that can help them. "Twitter can assist doctor-patient relations when I can't be there in person," Dr. Stiles says. "If I direct an individual to a lung cancer advocacy link, the patient knows I'm thinking about them—that even though I'm not physically with them, there is a human out there working for their well-being."
— Franklin Crawford
A version of this story first appeared in Weill Cornell Medicine,Vol. 14, No. 1.