Shikha Jain, Founder, Chair of the Board (Former ED) at Women in Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Illinois Cancer Center, shared a post on Facebook:
“I spent years being told that being active online would cost me credibility as an academic physician.
Turns out the cost of staying quiet was higher.
Patients are already going online with their medical questions. In cancer, they are searching for information about their diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options, side effects, clinical trials, and what comes next.
And the person they often trust most, their own clinician, is too often not there.
That space doesn’t stay empty. It gets filled by whoever is willing to speak with the most confidence. And confidence is cheap.
Tomorrow and Saturday, COSMO comes to Chicago and I am so excited for it. This is the third year of the Collaboration for Outcomes Using Social Media in Oncology, and the first as a Women in Medicine VERITAS initiative.
We are bringing together patients, nurses, physicians, researchers, advocates, and healthcare leaders from across the country to talk about how digital communication is reshaping cancer care, and what responsibility those of us with expertise have to show up in these spaces.
Because there is a difference between an influencer and a digital opinion leader.
An influencer builds an audience.
A digital opinion leader uses evidence, expertise, credibility, and trust to educate one.
We need many more of the second kind.
Especially at a moment when science and evidence are under attack.
On-site registration is open tomorrow. Platform Conference Center at BMO Tower, 320 S Canal, two minutes from Union Station.
And if you’ve ever believed something about your health that turned out to be wrong, that isn’t a failure of intelligence. It’s a reminder of how much it matters who shows up to tell you the truth and help you make evidence based informed decisions about your health.
I hope to see you tomorrow in Chicago!”
Other posts featuring Shikha Jain on OncoDaily.