Hey guys,
Many of you may know that I am a runaway doctor – I.e. it may seem as though I try my best to avoid clinical medicine in my career – not because there’s anything wrong with it, I just find I have other passions and capacities outside it and decide to pursue them when the opportunities arise, hence my varied career experiences.
But when I am working in a clinical capacity – I do it to the best of my ability. It’s a noble profession regardless of the challenges it’s facing worldwide – so I still uphold the tenets that I swore on my induction day.
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of questionable social media activity among medical students that makes me wonder – are these people not aware of the ramifications associated with bringing the profession into disrepute? If you, as a medical student, write on a public platform things that make people afraid of being cared for by their doctors – don’t you think that could affect their health seeking behaviors? Which could then result in undoing all the hard work that public health colleagues have been putting in to prevent treatable conditions from becoming too late due to late presentations – it all adds up.
Your singular tweet that you may have just posted because one of your classmates annoyed you with their unseriousness – could be the reason a patient with a lump stays home until their cancer metastasizes beyond salvageable repair – yes the consequences can be THAT GRAVE – which is why maintaining the reputation of doctors has such great importance in the ethics of the profession.
If what you’re about to post can cause the (already eroding) confidence of the public in doctors to shake even slightly – refrain from such an action. There are so many things you can post about, there’s more to your life than the degree you’re studying after all – find your niche in those fields and flourish.
Don’t risk patient’s lives and your career for a “viral moment” – it’s honestly not worth it.
Till next time,
Dr ETK xo
