- 63% of respondents say they use social media professionally but only 28% have a budget for investing in it
- 70% of respondents use social media to connect with peers; only 51% use it for patient education
“With the government of India’s healthcare policy emphasizing on preventive healthcare, medical practitioners and hospitals have to find new ways to reach and educate patients to stay healthy. In this context, social media can be a game changer, especially for specialist care providers such as dental surgeons, ophthalmologists, dermatologists and ENT specialists,” said Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran, Founder and Editor, Healthcare in India.
The survey report, possibly the first of its kind in India, outlines possible reasons for low social media adoption as ranging from limited understanding of social media; lack of skills needed to create compelling content on social media; uncertainty around how regulatory bodies such as the Indian Dental Association perceive social media use; and absence of well-known peers using social media.
“As an education provider and a practicing dentist, I have seen interest from dentists to use social media for professional purposes. But the rigors of running a practice means they seldom have the time to invest in familiarizing themselves with this medium,” said Dr. Mayur Davda, Founder, The Dental Education. Other salient findings of the report include the following:
- The top social media platforms used by respondents for professional work include Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs (in that order)
- 42% of respondents spent an average of one to five hours a week on social media pertaining to work. About 33% spent less than an hour a week.
- Only 28% of respondents had a budget for investing in social media activities
According to the report, social media can be used to educate, promote, interact and advise patients. To this effect the report also includes a section on five commonly asked questions and actionable insights to help medical practitioners build their social media presence credibly
About the Survey
Conducted between August and December 2015 last year, the survey received responses from 114 dentists, of which 52% were women. The responses were fairly distributed between professionals with less than five years of experience (40%), those between five and 10 years of experience (35%) and those over 10 years of experience (25%)
About Healthcare in India
About The Dental Education
The Dental Education was established by Dr. Mayur Davda so that every dentist/ dental student / dental associate (like dental hygienist and dental ceramist) could get quick and easy access to the vast knowledge of dentistry on the go. The Dental Education is aiming to be as resourceful to dental students and para dental staff as it is for the dentists and offer educational services at free / subsidized cost. Dr. Davda is also President of the Dental Photography School (pioneers of Dental/ Medical Photography Training And research in India) and a Photomentor at Canon India & GPS Smile design, Las Vegas, USA.
Key contacts
Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran (drvikram@health-in-india.net)
Phone: 9686569928
Dr. Mayur Davda (thedentaleducation@gmail.com)
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Dr Vikram Venkateswaran
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Dr Mayur Davda
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