63. Austin Chiang, MD MPH (Part 1) — Popularity vs. Credibility, Physician Expertise on Social Media & Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Vaccine Experienc...

“Over time I think we’ve seen a shift of putting ourselves more into our social media presence rather than just simply being a professional on social media spewing facts. I think my motivation is because there’s so much distrust in our healthcare system and health professionals, we’ve seen that play out with the pandemic, and I think it’s important to show that we are human beings too. We have personalities, struggles, interests, and the same questions that everyone else has. We might have a different perspective because we have more context and we are able to interpret the signs more readily. That’s why it is important to put the two together, so that way people could relate and we can empathize with one another.” - Austin Chiang, MD MPH

Welcome back to another episode of Discover More.

This week’s guest is Dr. Austin Chiang (@austinchiangmd), an esteemed physician in interventional and weight loss endoscopy. Austin is one of the few doctors in the world that’s triple-board certified in internal medicine, GI, and obesity medicine.

He received his bachelor’s degree at Duke University and went on to complete his medical and MPH trainings at Columbia University and Harvard Medical School. You can find his press coverages on outlets such as New York Times, Men’s Health, BBC news, and more.

Austin uses the power of social media and comedy to not only educate the public with an evidence-based approach, but also in attempt to break down the multitude barriers of misinformation. To further impact his social media presence, he founded the Association for Healthcare Social Media, the first non-profit society for health professional social media use.

Currently, Dr. Chiang is the Assistant Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia, PA, and serves as the Director of the Endoscopic Weight Loss Program and Chief Medical Social Media Officer for the Jefferson health system.

In this episode, Austin shares his mission of using social media to dispel misinformation and educate the public on the complexities of the healthcare system.

Unlike many doctors, Austin didn’t always know that he wanted to study medicine. He always kept an open mind, studying a wide variety of subjects in college and now, evaluating opportunities in seemingly unrelated fields.

He credits this open-mindedness for much of his success and that is a big topic of this week’s conversation.

We also discuss the importance of sharing one’s voice on social media, the necessity of acknowledging nuance, and his initial perspectives around the COVID vaccination.

We hope you enjoy this week’s episode of Discover More, with us and Dr. Austin Chiang.

 

Show notes:

Austin Chiang’s website: http://www.austinchiang.com/

Austin Chiang’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinchiangmd/

Austin Chiang’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AustinChiangMD/featured

Check out the documentary “Trust” | Uploaded by Taiwan’s CDC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Obtht6e_d0&ab_channel=%E8%A1%9B%E7%94%9F%E7%A6%8F%E5%88%A9%E9%83%A8%E7%96%BE%E7%97%85%E7%AE%A1%E5%88%B6%E7%BD%B2