Fam,

if y’all will give me a little bit of room, I want to wax philosophic for a minute…

I’m seeing some really concerning trends on med Twitter. I’m begging, once again, don’t be that guy.

Please don’t talk smack about the lab or environmental services or case management.

These folks are working just as hard as everyone else in healthcare. Do not denigrate the glue that holds hospitals together.

Please don’t shit post about military medical professionals. My ties to that community are deep, as is my respect for everything they have earned.

I’m also seeing a lot of healthcare professionals posting in a manner that is hard to interpret as anything other than clout chasing or fame seeking behavior. Our job as a community, aside from straight up saving lives in the hospital, is to behave in a manner that engenders

Respect and reinforces the trust that our patients and their families place in us. Now more than ever, we need to behave in a manner that demonstrates integrity and authenticity.

We are a community dedicated to service. We are also a community that is under attack from many

sides. The only way through this it’s to support one another and to continue to demonstrate that we are worthy of public trust and respect.

I have the upmost respect for the fact that we are all humans under profound stress. So I am asking all of us to consider the timing, tone,

and venue with which we are expressing pet peeves, irritations, personal opinions, etc.

given the optics of what is happening in healthcare right now, is now really the time? Is Twitter the right place?

I am going to try to continue posting in a manner that is educational,

Uplifting, authentic. And I will continue to post, if/when it is safe and respectful to do so, about my patients and their families in a way that honors their dignity and demonstrates my deep and profound empathy, support, and love.

And before anyone assumes that I take myself all that seriously…