#emergencymedicine on TikTok shows evidence of reliable contributors and meaningful educational material – for example consider checking out@seethemedlife, @drjoe_md, @lifeofadoctor, @doctor.darien, and @dr.jmack.  74% of all U.S. adults use the Internet, and 61% have looked for health or medical information on the Internet.⁷  Consequently, it’s no surprise that health care workers are making their presence felt on this platform.  Although this doesn’t guarantee that all content will be medically accurate and appropriate, it is reassuring to find a significant number of physicians creating valuable educational content that could benefit viewers.  The intersection of TikTok and Emergency Medicine will likely grow and as emergency physicians, we may someday find ourselves referencing TikTok for valuable information amid that busy ER shift.

Mohamad Moussa, MD, FACEP is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Residency Program Director at The University of Toledo (@MMoussaMD). 

Citations

1. Hameed I, Oakley CT, Ahmed A, et al. Analysis of Physician Use of Social Media. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(7):e2118213. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.18213.
2. Bursztynsky, Jessica. “TikTok says 1 billion people use the app each month”. CNBC. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
3. Itoh T, Lee‐Jayaram J, Fang R, Hong T, Berg B. Just‐in‐time training for intraosseous needle placement and defibrillator use in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care 2019;35:712–5.
4. Clement J. Average YouTube Video Length as of December 2018, by Category. Statista. 2017. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1026923/youtube‐video‐category‐average‐length/. Accessed on March 2, 2023.
5. Yurieff K, O’Brien SA. With TikTok’s future uncertain, users are jumping to these other apps. CNN. 2020. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/tech/tiktok‐alternatives/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2023.
6. Comp G, Dyer S, Gottlieb M. Is TikTok The Next Social Media Frontier for Medicine? AEM Educ Train. 2020 Oct 21;5(3):10.1002/aet2.10532. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10532. PMID: 34095694; PMCID: PMC8155692
7. Fox S, Jones S. The social life of Internet users. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project. 2009.