In a recent AAMCNews viewpoint, medical student Joel Bervell shares how he got 140 million views on TikTok, as well as the attention of the White House and Oprah Winfrey, creating videos that fight health inequities. Bervell offers these tips to help other health professionals become social media influencers too:
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Think about the most common questions you receive from patients every day. The answer to each of these questions is a potential video that can educate a broader audience with accurate, evidence-based information.
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Remember to avoid jargon.
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Understand the social media landscape and the ever-elusive algorithms that determine what content makes it into users' feeds. Each platform is different, but any content you create can be repurposed, reused, and reposted repeatedly to reach new, broader audiences.
Bervell offers this additional advice: "Health care providers need to step up and lead the conversations about medicine on social media. As physicians we all have the power to be medical mythbusters and to mend the disparities in care that impact the most marginalized communities. Imagine how much we can accomplish collectively if more of us do this work. It just takes the courage to click 'post'."
You can follow Joel on TikTok here, Instagram here, or join us in Seattle this November at Learn Serve Lead as he joins us in-person to speak at the AAMC's Annual Meeting!
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Stephanie Weiner
Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
Association of American Medical Colleges
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