Take two influencers and call me in the morning

When I started practice and asked kids what they wanted to be, the usual replies were traditional: doctor, firefighter, astronaut or artist. And while these choices are still popular, they are often surpassed these days by Youtuber, streamer and content producer. If the kids are alright, then they want to be influencers. While it may seem dreamy to get paid to unbox something you got for free, the influencer trend is big business: it’s a $30 billion industry, as everyone from Broadway shows to clothing companies try to leverage influencers’ millions of followers to advance their corporate brand. It’s an arms race and even governments hire influencers to push political agendas in our post-truth times marked by distrust of leaders, experts and mainstream media.Read: Dr. Eric Cadesky: Stupid stuff is burning us out: a lesson in saying ‘No’And lately, it seems like doctors could use this kind of support. A quick perusal of social media posts and these very Medical Post comments show that doctors are angry, and with good reason. I love working with pharmacists, but don’t love when I get a report that they were paid to prescribe antibiotics for viral conjunctivitis. I enjoy working with nurse practitioners, but wince when I read about NPs running private ADHD clinics that charge $299 for taking a history. And the increased capital gains tax on personal medical corporations feels like another hit in tough financial times.While it is true that doctors have become influencers as well, it’s been mostly to explain healthy habits and pop pimples, not necessarily to advance our profession. So while I’m all for substance, perhaps we need some spectacle as well to shine light onto the many cracks in our healthcare system and how we are often disadvantaged to fix them. Lobbying through medical associations hasn’t moved many needles, and the pot-banging goodwill we earned as pandemic heroes hasn’t led to more political influence. In fact, our greatest accomplishments recently have come from influencers who shared their personal journeys and incited backlash enough that doctors could ride this wake to collaborate with government on primary care payment reform.Whether it’s a well-known patient’s voice or a Kardashian or even the Biebs himself, the next time you hear about someone imposing their will on doctors, ask not what your medical association can do for you, but what influencers can do for us all.Dr. Eric Cadesky is a full-service family doctor in Vancouver. He’s kidding, kinda.

Take two influencers and call me in the morning

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