Exemplary healthcare professional digital opinion leaders (HCPDOLs) creating social media training resources

Kevin has been and continues to be “…a health care social media leader since 2004.” Through the kevinmd.com website he brings stories from the front-line to others. Frequently moving and compelling, his use of social media demonstrates how to reach people and be relevant. He has also co-authored “Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices.”

Kevin has provided his 'three key insights' for other healthcare professionals to learn from on the hcpdols.com website.

‘Berci’ has contributed vastly to the use of social media in healthcare education. His curated social media resources portal Webicina has deeply relevant content sorted by topic. He has created an online course for stepping through the basics of social media in clinical use. He has also authored the books Social Media in Clinical Practice and The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology AND The Human Touch.

‘Doctor V’ has a fantastic blog site 33charts.com and has produced the book The Public Physician: Practical Wisdom for Life in a Connected, Always-On World. Additionally, he has also co-created a new MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) ‘Medicine in the Digital Age’

Co-founder of lifeinthefastlane.com and the #FOAMed movement – Free Open Access Meducation. More than 1000 healthcare professionals list #FOAMed in their Twitter profile; testimony to the impact of this community in best practice sharing through social media resources.

Anne Marie is a prolific user of Twitter; a driving force in conversations about NHS innovation and stimulating new thinking in medical education. For example, her page “Why social media is not a waste of time for a doctor - infographic, slides, video and paper!” is a good starting point, and you can find several other social media related presentations at her slideshare

A significant innovator at the Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab, Larry has also set new precedents for the integration of online and offline engagement through the Stanford Medicine X conference. This event brings together the latest thinking and emerging technologies to challenge and inspire. New this year is the medicine X | ed conference too. Larry teaches the Edx MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) “Medical Education in the new millennium” along with other healthcare professionals on this list.

Ronan provides a great example of the way that healthcare professionals can use their online presence to connect with patients, through videos, blogging and more. His is the founder of the dotmedconference.ie which is a ‘TED-style’ forum for healthcare professionals to share best practice and learn from one another. Be sure to watch videos from past talks.

Jordan blogs on his website, however it was his video testimony via #dotMED that captured my attention. I was truly moved by his vulnerability and example to other healthcare professionals. His new book entitled “I Am Your Doctor: and This Is My Humble Opinion” has just been released.

Paul provides very practical guides for other healthcare professionals to learn from and follow. His ‘How to Blog’ article includes slides and instructions for getting started, as well as links to other notable examples. His blog very informative, and he is now also a driving force behind the new #RheumJC live chat.

Philip has been one of the key contributors helping the rheumatology community embrace social media, through his ‘social media bootcamp’ guidelines, resources and links. He has also prepared content on how to get the most from social media at congress, including recently with the ACR 2014 Social Media Primer.