Women's Dermatologic Society

By Briana Paiewonsky, BS 1, 2, and Lori Fiessinger, MD 1 1 Department of Dermatology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 2 Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL An editorial published in April 2021 highlighted the growing role of the dermatologist in social media (1). In fact, most of the dermatologists interviewed for the editorial shared the sentiment that social media is here to stay and will continue to develop in coming years (1). As experts on skin, hair, and nails, dermatologists are the most qualified to discuss these topics on social media. However, learning the nuances of social media profiles, posts, and videos is no easy feat. We have compiled some tips and useful tools to aid in creating a successful social media presence by effectively branding yourself, engaging your audience, and creating content. Branding Though branding has previously been used as a marketing tool for physical products, branding has now develope...

    By the WDS Practice Advisory Committee   From Dr. Lori Fiessinger: Start with one platform. Look to other dermatologists who have been successful on that platform to gain more information on what kind of posts do well. Early on, it is very important to be consistent. Post at least once weekly, but ideally more frequently on this. There are apps that can make posting easier. I currently use an app to design posts (Canva) and an app that auto-posts for me (Planoly) so I can design and plan posts in advance. For efficiency, I try to devote time once weekly to make all my posts for the following week.   From Dr. Mona Sadeghpour: Whatever you do, stay authentic to who you are and your practice's brand. You do not have to keep up with the Joneses or the latest TikTok trend.  Do post consistently even if it means posting 1-2 times per week.   The Women’s Dermatologic Society (WDS) Practice Advisory Committee supports dermatologists at any stage of their caree...

By Dr. Shadi Damanpour Introduction   Over three billion people worldwide are active users of social media, and patients are more readily utilizing it to obtain healthcare information. 1  Dermatologists have a large presence on social media, and it has become a useful platform to educate and communicate accurate information with the public. 1  Recent articles have also shown that social media activity is correlated with patient satisfaction and publication citations. 2,3,4  Therefore, there is increasing interest about how to best utilize social media in practice and which platforms to engage on. I have interviewed four WDS members and prominent social media influencers in dermatology to provide some insight and perspective on their goals, future directions, and everything in between.   What are the goals of your social media presence as a dermatologist?   Joyce Park (@teawithmd, teawithmd.com): When I created my blog as a medical student, I us...