🩺 🤔The Paradox of the Medfluencer: Part 1

There is a new dawn.
A new day.
A new light… for medicine.

And it’s called: Medfluencing.

Since the dawn of Instagram, doctors have taken to the internet to impart their wisdom to the masses.

Creators like Dr Mike, Dr Glaucomflecken and MedLifeCrisis have had a largely positive impact on society.

More recently, this dynamic has been brought into question.

Nick Baumel, a final-year medical student at Mayo Clinic, had found success online making skits about medicine. Garnering hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of likes in the process. 

It was genuinely funny. The jokes were pretty clever. Until they weren’t…

Two TikToks making fun of woman’s health went viral for the wrong reason. He crossed the line.

The fallout was massive.
Across socials doctors and the public rallied for his removal from med school. The Mayo Clinic made an apology on social media. He took down all his social accounts.

Nick was allegedly dismissed from medical school.

Just days before Match Day.
Over 10,000 hours of study, erased over 12 seconds of video.

The conversation became this:
If you’re a doctor, why on earth would you want to be a social media personality too?
You have a professional responsibility to society, so why risk it for followers?

He’s not the only one; several medfluencers have faced scrutiny simply for showing a side of themselves outside of the clinical environment. 

So it begs the question…

Are Doctors supposed to maintain the image of stoic, know-it-alls who are one with medicine? Or is there a viable path to being more than a medic without risking your licence?

Stage 1: Just A Regular Ol’ Doc

The old model had a name: medical paternalism

Access to medical information was scarce. There was no WebMD, Mayo Clinic or ChatGPT in the 70’s. Whatever the doctor said, went. They were the experts, and that authority was rarely questioned.

It worked well. Trust was high. Authority was clear. Decisions were made efficiently.

But this model had its critics. Critics who had a fair point.

They argued that concentrating knowledge so heavily in the hands of clinicians came at the expense of patient autonomy. Without full information, they’re not really deciding on their care… just consenting to what's already been decided. 

And they could feel it too.
Even in the 80’s, research showed patients had a strong desire to be informed about their care

With that, the pressure built.
Patients wanted access, explanations, and understanding about how their bodies went wrong.

Before it went to the internet.
It went to television.

Stage 2: The TV Doctor Era

In the early 21st Century, cable television was everything. Oprah, Kardashians, Total Wipeout, Geordie Shore. 

The network providers saw this as a perfect opportunity to capitalise on this thirst for medical information. 

Let’s take some real doctors, give them a microphone, and let them speak on healthcare. 

Enter the TV doctor Era: Dr Oz. Dr Pixie McKenna.
For the first time, medical information was being scaled beyond the clinic. Millions of people could access health advice without stepping into a GP surgery.

But the incentives were never really about accuracy. Not one speck of altruism in their system. 

The producers didn't care how smart you were as a doctor. Or how accurate. Or how evidence-based.
The only thing that mattered was whether people kept watching.
The only thing that mattered was the ratings.

A paternity test reveal was much more interesting than learning how PCOS works. 

These shows started drifting away from public health education and more towards public health entertainment. Worse yet, public health misinformation 

A BMJ analysis of popular medical talk shows found that only around half of the recommendations were supported by evidence, with many lacking evidence entirely or even contradicting it.

For better or worse, medical information was slightly more democratised. But more than that, it created the blueprint for the era to come.

Stage 3: The Social Boom

Social Media changed the game.

The thirst for medical information was still there; it had just pivoted. 45% Gen Z seek health advice from social media, according to Newsweek.

So doctors thought, why not just meet them where they are? 

With a camera, a microphone, and a ring light, any doctor could have a voice. No network gatekeeping or producer telling you to make it more dramatic. Medical information was now fully democratised.

It started on YouTube with Dr Mike’s, Ali Abdaal’s (Pre-Godfather-of-Productivity-Pivot), and Medlifecrisis’s of the world.

Their content formula worked really well early on, using their clinical credibility to speak on matters they really cared about. Their journeys, learnings and healthcare matters, they felt qualified enough to speak on. 

As social media progressed, so did clinicians' willingness for vulnerability. 

Day-in-the-life videos. Dark humour from the wards. Gym routines. Dating stories. Burnout. Breakdowns. Banter.

Same medics, just unfiltered. The algorithm rewards this.
If you open your feed now, it’s full of doctors and medical students doing exactly this. And truly, it’s refreshing. For the first time, medicine doesn’t feel distant. 

But therein lies the risk. 

The dark humour, the dating stories, the breakdown and banter… is this all doctor-like?

“You must make sure that your conduct justifies patients’ trust in you and the public’s trust in your profession,” says the GMC.

The question remains… if you wouldn’t speak about it in the hospital, should you bare all on the ‘gram? 

We want your thoughts on the topic! All will be anonymous, so say it all. We will finally featuring reader opinions in The Handover newsletter.

After you vote, there should be a section for you to put some feedback. Fill it in to get your opinion heard. And say what stage of your career you are, too!

When we initially thought of this deep dive, we thought we could contain the topic in 1000 words. But the search led us to realise we’d only scratch the surface.

There are so many domains on this topic. Standout included:

Each one could be a 1000-word think piece. We think maybe they should be

So rather than trimming the fat, we’ve decided to give you the full wagyu. This will be a three-part deep dive series. 

Andddd… going forward, Deep Dives will come with interviews(where they can), so there is that to look forward to!

Which do you want first?
If there is anything else we’re missing on the topic, let us know in the poll below.

Plus some interesting threads on the Nick Baumel situation, if you’re curious, as it was the catalyst for this series:

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