By Daniel Ghinn 
This year we launched our first season of the Better Listening for Better Health podcast. It was a privilege to listen to some of the healthcare professionals I have admired for years, and some who I discovered for the first time while planning the series. Each of the conversations was an incredible learning experience for me and I discovered new ways that social media is playing a vital role in medical learning, problem solving and inspiring the next generation of scientists.
Social media empowers HCP learning
“Every day is a school day”, Dr Kevin Fernando told me, describing how social media helps him process the incredibly fast-growing pool of medical knowledge and guidelines that affect his daily work as a GP with a special interest in diabetes and cardiometabolic disease.
In our conversation, he says it is the most difficult time ever for doctors in primary care and he explains how overwhelming it can be for physicians to keep up with today’s pace of medical knowledge growth. This, he says, is why social media is a vital tool for enabling doctors to learn and share with each other, and with patients.
I loved how Dr Fernando talks about how social media is what allows him to learn – to keep on top of new science – and then to share that knowledge. He explained how social media inspires wider learning among the community of HCPs, saying that he had recently discovered new science on social media, which he studied further and soon incorporated into his own teaching.
From his surgery in a small town on the East Coast of Scotland, Dr Fernando reaches healthcare professionals all over the UK, and all around the world.
It was fun to learn from his predictions about the future of primary care in the UK, the future of social media for doctors and patients, and the role of industry in the online medical conversation.
Social media brings hope in oncology
From Scotland, we went to Texas, where my conversation with medical oncologist Dr Shaalan Beg convinced me that social media is saving lives.
There must be few of us who have not been touched by cancer in some way. It’s an area of healthcare where it seems there’s so much work to be done. But listening to Dr Beg gave me so much hope.
In our conversation he talks about the amazing ways that cancer treatment has progressed in recent years – and also the challenges that all this new medical science brings with it.
He’s passionate about access to clinical trials, and I learned from him about some of the challenges in the current system that lead to inequity of knowledge about, and access to, those trials.
We talk about AI, and how it can be used to support clinical decisions, for better patient care. And we talk about Dr Beg’s journey on social media. He shares how vital he believes it is for oncologists to be present on social media today, and he talks about where it’s going. I loved how he shared some of his favourite doctors on Instagram and TikTok and the impact they have on reaching the public.
And of course we could not have had such a hope-filled conversation without talking about the future.
Social media for teaching HCPs
One of the most passionate doctors I spoke with this year was consultant diabetologist, Dr Amar Puttanna. “Social media is my passion project”, he told me with a smile, comparing his endeavours on social media with his life as a doctor, which he describes as his “day job”.
Listening to Dr Puttanna, it’s obvious that he is indeed passionate about social media – not only as a platform for learning, but also for teaching. He has launched numerous channels where doctors go to learn and share with each other, and he’s one of what might be a movement of doctors who want to bring fun to serious education.
I also loved hearing what a significant part Dr Puttanna believes social media has played in his own career success.
Social media advances medical science
Colorectal surgeon, Dr Richard Brady, told me that social media has transformed the advancement of medical science itself. As well as being a platform for learning and sharing, he says that social media has played a vital role in communication for healthcare professionals. In his own role as a professor, he says, social media is essential for nurturing the next generation of specialists.
Dr Brady says that social media plays a vital role in medical research collaboration. But advances in medical science can bring challenges, too: Dr Brady talks about advances in patient diagnosis thanks to new technology, and the new challenges that these advances have created in the health system.
And for those new to social media, Dr Brady shares his tips on how to get started in building an online medical community.
Social media improves health access
My conversation with Prof. Partha Kar was a journey into how to use social media to drive access to better healthcare. We talked about health equity, data, and the vital role that communication plays in effective health leadership.
Prof. Kar talks about how important social media is for that health leadership communication. In fact, he says that without social media, there would not have been what he calls the explosion in access to better technology for people with type 1 diabetes in the UK.
In the episode, we talk about some practical ways in which social media has been used to help shape policy, to drive access to technology and better patient care.
And Prof. Kar also shares great advice for any healthcare professional who wants to build their network and use social media effectively for better health.
Social media is inspiring the next generation of scientists
The final episode of the series was a special treat. Having listened to doctors in primary care, specialty disease, medical oncology and surgery, my conversation with Katie King, PhD, about manufacturing medicines in microgravity was truly mind-stretching for me.
“In the next ten years we will see a massive boom in space health”, says Dr King.
I don’t mind confessing I felt out of my depth, asking her about nanomedicine, microgravity and space health (and you can hear it in my voice on the episode, as I fumble to find the words!) but Dr King is a brilliant scientist with incredible ideas, and her passion for using space technology to benefit humans is contagious.
So, I learned how studying nanomedicine, and her experience with NASA, inspired Dr King to attempt what’s never been done before: mass manufacturing of medicines in space, in order that in the future, cancer patients can be treated at home.
We talked about her work in inspiring the next generation of scientists, too, and the role that social media plays in that work.
The full 2024 series is available now to listen on your favourite player. Please remember to hit ‘follow’ on the podcast, so you’re first to know when we launch our 2025 series!
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CreationHealthcare/podcasts
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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/better-listening-for-better-health/id1758153290
