Ask any current medical student why they chose to become a doctor. More often than not, you’ll hear the words Grey’s Anatomy, House M.D., Scrubs, or ER in their answer. Simply put, these shows provided us with our very first exposures to the medical field outside of our yearly checkups or visits to the emergency room. They were a portal into a world previously walled off by the highly professional culture of academic medicine and patient privacy laws like HIPAA. But all that was before the boom that was and still is social media.
Nowadays we don’t need cable TV or a streaming subscription to see what it’s like to be a physician. Social media sites like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat, all have their own communities of doctors that regularly put out medical-related content for the masses to enjoy. Their success is a result of social media’s ability to lower the barriers that were previously present with content creation and dissemination. Multi-million-dollar production studios with A-list actors and fake hospital sets built on soundstages in Los Angeles are no longer needed to capture what it’s like to be a physician. All one needs is an iPhone, medical degree, and an internet connection. These physicians, nicknamed “Medfluencers” for their role as medical-influencers, are a new and growing part of social media. As such it is worth examining their impact on the general public and determine if their presence is needed.
Take Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in New York City. Known for his good looks, charming personality, and candidness in presenting the field of medicine, Dr. Varshavski (or “Dr. Mike” as he’s known on social media) has a whopping 4.4 million Instagram followers and over 10 million subscribers on YouTube. By statistics alone, he is the world’s most popular Medfluencer. While his most viewed videos are those from his “Doctor Reacts” series, where he analyzes the medical accuracy of med-drama shows like Grey’s Anatomy, many of his videos are also about the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing opioid crisis, and the effects of social media on mental health. One of his most popular videos is a face-to-face interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci. Using fun yet professional tone, Dr. Mike asks Dr. Fauci various questions about the state of the pandemic, mask regulations, and what to expect in the coming years. Dr. Mike is an example of a good Medfluencer due to his use of his social media platform as a tool to combat public misinformation on COVID-19, bring awareness towards key public health issues, and educate his followers on the truth of what it’s like to be a physician in the 2020s.
Dr. Will Flanary, or Dr. Glaucomflecken as he’s known on social media, is another example of a good Medfluencer. With over 2 million followers on TikTok, Dr. G is regarded as one of the funniest comedians to ever come out of medical school. On TikTok, his passion for comedy combines with his day job as an ophthalmologist in Portland, Oregon in two-minute-long skits that satirize the various stereotypes in medicine while also presenting a grain of truth to the viewer. The impact of this series is two-fold. It not only allows doctors, med students, and hospital staff to get a laugh out of the various idiosyncrasies associated with their specialty of choice, but it also gives the general public watching his videos insight towards some of the very real challenges doctors across the country face on a daily basis. In addition, Dr. G donates all of his comedy-related earnings to First Descents, a non-profit that allows young adult cancer survivors to embark on a shared outdoor experience completely free of cost.
But not all Medfluencers are like Dr. Mike or Dr. G. Many falsely advertise themselves as “doctors” with the intent to be regarded as MD or DO trained physicians when they in fact hold degrees in other medically related fields. These people don’t use their platform to educate the masses on public health crises or bring attention to problems in the healthcare field. Instead, they readily promote risky cosmetic surgeries they should not be performing due to lack of board certification or partner with pharmaceutical/biotech companies to promote various drugs or procedures. These Medfluencers not only endanger patient lives, but also lead to an influx of patients approaching their physician requesting drugs or procedures they do not need, placing unnecessary stress on physicians and the healthcare system as a whole.
Regardless of the current state of Medfluencers, it is clear that they are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. As such, it is our duty as the newest generation of future doctors to keep up with the current portrayal of medicine in social media. We must do our part in researching and understanding who we should endorse as good representatives of our profession, and who we should actively warn our patients against getting advice from.
Alec Simoni is a medical student of the Class of 2026 at The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He graduated from UCLA majoring in Psychobiology and minoring in Classical Civilization. When he's not spending his time skating around the streets of Downtown Phoenix in search of a new lunch spot, Alec enjoys reading classical Roman and Greek literature and working out at the gym. Feel free to contact him at @alecsimoni on Instagram or alecsimoni@arizona.edu