7 Most Influential Doctors on Social Media

At eMedEvents, we are putting the spotlight on the 7 most influential doctors on social media. Over the years, various social media platforms have helped create and showcase many celebrities, including doctors. Becoming an ‘Internet Celebrity’ is a trend now and it is merely a click away. A social media celebrity can earn a surprising amount of money, even up to $500,000 to $1 million per year. An average YouTuber can earn around $57,000 per year and tweets can help you earn anywhere from $50 to $100 for a single tweet.

Even physicians are able to capitalize on these opportunities. They are not only becoming celebrities but spreading awareness about their specialties and providing vital information to patients before they even meet a doctor while busting all kinds of medical myths. These doctors are becoming international CME conference speakers, bestselling writers, and have also submitted abstracts at various medical events.

They are making social media work for their practices. Here is our list of the top 7:
Dr. Mikhail Varshavski:

He is famously known as Doctor Mike on Instagram and YouTube, and Dr. Mike Varshavski on Twitter. He rose to fame for his charming good looks in mid-2015 through Instagram. He was subsequently named as the ‘Sexist Doctor Alive’ by People magazine.

Dr. Mike is a Board Certified Family Medicine Physician in NYC. He has 2.8 million followers on Instagram, 108K on Twitter, and 1,031,064 subscribers on YouTube. His social media accounts focus on his job as a doctor, exercise, and his dog. He uses his social media account to spread awareness of various diseases including prostate cancer, anxiety, vaccines, hypertension, and many more. He also covers the nutritional value of various food items, while promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Mike has contributed articles for a variety of medical journals and magazines.
Dr. Sandra Lee:

She is the famous ‘Dr. Pimple Popper’ on Instagram and Twitter. Her YouTube channel name is Dr. Sandra Lee (aka Dr. Pimple Popper). She started posting YouTube videos of her medical procedures back in 2010. She became more popular through Instagram videos.

Dr. Sandra Lee is a Dermatologist practicing from Upland, California. She has over 1 billion views on her skin extractions videos. On Instagram, she has 2.7 million followers, 77.2K on Twitter, and she has 3,630,668 YouTube subscribers. Her content focuses on various skin extractions, skincare, and educating her audience about various dermatology-related questions.

She has been featured in various online newspapers and has already helped several Hollywood celebrities with their skincare issues. In 2017, she launched her own skincare line called SLMD Skincare Products.

Dr. Kevin Pho:

Dr. Kevin Pho is well-known for his KevinMD blog, which was started by him in 2004 in order to provide a quick and simple explanation the ‘Vioxx medication’ recall. He was able to capitalize on the fact that 80% of patients look up their symptoms on the internet before meeting a doctor. He previously worked as a researcher at Google Answers to resolve patient queries posted online.

After getting over 1.4 million views on his blog in 2009, his works are often cited in various news outlets. Forbes stated it as a ‘must-read blog’. While CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal have placed his blog on their top social media influencers lists. His Twitter profile Kevin Pho, M.D. has 161K followers.

Dr. Kevin Pho writes extensively on issues dealing with medical technology in practice, cultivating doctors’ online reputations, and doctor and patient interaction on social media. He is also a Keynote speaker and panel member for various medical societies.

Dr. Michael Salzhauer:

Dr. Michael Salzhauer is also known as ‘Dr. Miami.’ He is an American cosmetic and plastic surgeon, reality TV personality, recording artist and children’s book author. He has a major presence on Snapchat with over 1.2 million Snapchat views daily.

Dr. Miami has 803K Instagram followers and 85.9K followers on Twitter. He posts a majority of his cosmetic surgery work on his Snapchat story mode.

He is currently working at Bal Harbour Plastic Surgery in Miami, Florida as Chief Surgeon.

Dr. Howard J Luks:

Dr. Howard J Luks is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist. His major presence is on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. He was on the list of Twitter’s top ten doctors and also been named as a top ‘Social Healthmaker’ for Osteoarthritis.

On Twitter, he has 23.8K followers, 1,562 subscribers on YouTube, and over 3,500 likes on Facebook with 4.6 ratings. He is well-known for treating shoulder, knee, and other sports-related injuries. He has been featured on several news media outlets and serves as an Advisory Board Member of Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media.

Dr. Atul Gawande:

Dr. Gawande is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He has written extensively on Public Health and Medicine. He started writing about medicine during his residency years for Slate and since 1998, he has gone on to become a staff writer for The New Yorker. He is well-known for his 4 books that became a massive hit among the general audience.

He published his first book in 2002 titled Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, which was a National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction. This book has been translated into 20 different languages and published in over 100 countries.

He published his second book Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance in 2007. In 2009, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right made the New York Times hardcover bestseller list for nonfiction. He published his fourth book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End in 2014 which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.

He currently practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Michael Apa:

Dr. Michael Apa, DDS developed the new approach called ‘Facial Aesthetic Design (FAD)’ in aesthetic dentistry. FAD creates a natural smile and enhances appearance. He also mastered porcelain veneers that look more natural and undetectable.

He has 195K followers on Instagram and 22.9K followers on Twitter. His Instagram feed has loads of before and after images of his work. He has also been featured in several magazines and appeared on various television programs.

He currently practices in New York and Dubai.

It’s not easy becoming a social media celebrity. There is a lot of hard work that goes into planning and implementation. If you would like to be the next international CME conference speaker and social media celebrity, then why not start by registering at eMedEvents to become a speaker.

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