This post is a guest post by Andrea Borondy Kitts.
This post is a guest post by Andrea Borondy Kitts.
This was my second time attending the Doctors 2.0 and You conference in Paris. My first time was last year and I plan to attend every year from now on. Why? Short answer: The people I meet, the speakers and their presentations, information on the latest trends, and the early discussions about collaborative projects all start at the conference and then continue to mature after the conference. But most of all because patients are included and valued. Everyone is focused on, and truly cares about, what is best for the patient whether from a technology view, from an Artificial Intelligence (AI) view, or in the development of serious games helping people manage a serious medical condition.
Last year among the many people I met was awesome South African facial difference patient advocate Vanessa Carter. She is single handedly bringing social media and medicine to South Africa. Vanessa and I stayed in touch during the year sharing insights about social media and medicine. I also met Tal Givoly, CEO of start-up winner 
Medivizor. Tal and I are shared many e-mails during the year and had conference calls to encourage hospital cancer centers to sign patients up for the free Medivizor patient medical search service. In addition, I was able to help one of the Doctors 2.0 community with a family medical situation in my area of patient advocacy.
During the year, the #doctors20 hashtag remained active, community members sharing insights and the latest information on the intersection of medicine, interactive technology, social media, patient advocacy and the impacts on patient outcomes. Many of us also connected on Facebook and LinkedIn.
I was not disappointed with my second year at the conference. I reconnected with friends from the year before, met in person social media friends Marie Ennis-O’Conner (@JBBC) and Bernadette Keefe (@nxtstop1) among others, and met new friends like Andrew Schorr (@patientpower), Meg Maley from start-up winner CanSurround (@cansurround) and motivational Giovanna Marsico (@giomarsi) from Cancer Campus. I also was able to discuss lung cancer screening with one of the top cancer centers in France. I am active with many of these inspiring people working on collaborating with them on helping cancer patients.
I’m already looking forward to next year. For next year’s conference I am working with 2 of the top US robotic cardiothoracic surgeons; friends who are inspired by my descriptions of Doctors 2.0 and You and hoping to come and share their leading edge patient friendly surgical technologies with the community.
Doctors 2.0 and You is not just a conference. We are a community and I propose that we are also a defacto patient inclusive medical association with an impact and reach that will rival the powerful American Medical Association (AMA).
The post Guest post by Andrea Borondy Kitts – Doctors 2.0 and You: Conference, Community, and Medical Association #doctors20 appeared first on Doctors 2.0.