Should Physicians Tweet about politics? No ( with nuance).
Let me address the “no” part first, and then we will get into the nuances.
Most physicians will be well served by a “no tweeting politics” rule. *
There are two basic reasons for this.
First, if you are employed as a physician by a health are organization, it may simply not be allowed contractually.
Most organizations will have a social media policy which specifically excludes you from posting certain types of content in social media.
Also , its likely that underpinning this policy your contract will have something about it being unacceptable for you to display “unprofessional conduct” or “portraying your organization in a poor light” and realistically they will define what is unacceptable.
Second, and more importantly, tweeting about politics, if you are an employee of a healthcare organization, might be breaking what I call “The Golden Rule of Social Media”: Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to yourself.
Consider this scenario.
You are an OB/Gyn with fairly strong views on a woman’s right to choose. After reading an article, you post a tweet on a Friday evening strongly in favor of this position.
Now, when you come into work on Monday morning, your offices sidewalks have 30 pro-life protestors picketing saying that your organization supports killing babies!
( Remember freedom of speech does not mean freedom of repercussions form that speech )
Was it really the right thing to do for your patients or your management to post that tweet?
How would you feel if you had a physician or nurse working for you and they had posted a tweet on a Friday and you had to come into work and deal with these protests?
A politically charged tweet, although it may feel right to you in the moment, can often put you on shaky grounds the next day when it comes to doing what is right for your patients.
However, no rule is 100%, so let me comment on the nuances of the “no tweeting politics” rule.
Physicians aren’t only medical practitioners; they are also citizens with unique insights.
This uniqueness stems from having one foot firmly planted in science and another foot firmly planted in a very practical understanding of the human condition.
We have seen life and death, often at both its best and its worst.
And lets face it, an ER physician in a Level I trauma center in the inner city is going to have valuable insights into highly charged political issues such as gun violence, which needs to be part of the debate.
Fundamentally I don’t believe being a physician means you abdicate your role of a public citizen, even on Twitter, but it does come with added responsibility.
So here are three examples (of several) when it may be very appropriate to tweet politics.
1 – A retired physician. It’s acceptable for a fully retired physicians to jump into the political fray in social media. (Even here you may not be fully immune from the consequences. If you carry an active medical license from the state then you still will have to abide by the state’s professional guidelines.
2 – A physician entering politics. No one would expect someone entering politics or running for political office to avoid strong political positions, whether a physician or not. However, the Golden Rule of Social media still needs to apply. Consider the following scenario. If you are in the unique position of running for a state senate seat while being employed within a healthcare organization, an appropriate thing to do would be to meet with the appropriate leadership of your organization BEFORE you started tweeting politics. This allows you both to come up with clear guidelines.
Of note: Most healthcare organizations will be quite accommodating to their physician employees holding a political office, provided they are not blindsided.
3 – A leadership role in a professional medical organization. Professional medical organizations often exist with the purpose of entering the political fray to represent their physician base. Although the golden rule still applies, part of the purpose of these organizations is to give political cover to taking sides on sensitive topics. Simply put, if you are working for the the AMA, and the AMA takes a position on the Affordable Care Act, then it is quite reasonable to tweet professionally about the AMA’s position.
So hopefully this post has given a few insights into the subtleties of physicians tweeting about politics.
One last piece of advice. If you decide to start tweeting about politics as a physician, don’t do it casually or in anger.
Give it careful thought, be considerate of your employers (and discuss your approach you intend to take with social media before you tweet) and be aware of your duty to your patients as a professional responsibility.
On Twitter, your role as citizen and physician do not have to conflict, but it does need to be approached carefully.
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* I personally have a “no politics, no religion rule on Twitter because it isn’t part of my ikigai.