Surgeons have taken the Twitterverse by storm!

Photo Credit

Excited to be back! After a new baby and the start of surgical residency in 2013, I took a two-year Twitter hiatus. Now that I have returned to research and reentered the Twitterverse, I am thrilled to see so many old faces as well as countless new ones!

The ease with which I am reentering the Twitterverse is one of the many reasons I love Twitter. There is no chastising for being away--just well-wishes, retweets, and of course amazing conversations and links shared.

The most gratifying development has been the exponential increase in the number of surgeons actively tweeting. I remember the days (i.e. 2013) when it was notable to find a new surgeon to add to my “Surgery” Twitter list, which at that time contained just over 100 accounts. Now I add 10+ new surgery-related tweeters EVERYDAY and the list contains well over 1000 accounts!

There are new features and nuances of Twitter that I am getting the hang of—new retweeting, quotes, favorites, and more. As always, there is a learning curve and it’s fun learning! There are new surgeon blogs-- Life in the Wild West by @AmaliaCochranMD, Hot Heel, Cool Kicks, & a Scalpel by @surgeoninheels and @surgeoninkicks, Behind the Mask by @DrKathyHughes, and Jones Surgery by @JonesSurgery.  There is also an active International General Surgery Journal Club #IGSJC and the new Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma journal club #EASTjc. Today the Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network #TSSMN announced their collaborative effort to bring thoracic surgery scholarship to the Twitterverse.

Looking over Twitter for Surgeons 101, I am pleasantly surprised to see it is as relevant today as it was in 2012.  However, with so many expert surgeon Tweeters in the Twitterverse, it's clear the surgery world is ready for a "Twitter for Surgeons 201" to advance the conversation of how Twitter can be maximized to learn, disseminate information, educate patients, and to build our professional networks and global presence.

Tweet on my friends!