The Public Physician: @Doctor_V guest on #hcsmca

33 charts was one of the first blogs I followed and Dr. Bryan Vartabedian (@Doctor_V) one of the first people I followed on Twitter. Through his blog, I feel I get special access to the musings and contemplations of a physician — a perspective that wasn’t so readily and regularly available before social media. He writes about navigating health and social media as a physician, and the challenges, opportunities, and obligations physicians have as part of a world beyond their individual space.

Now, Bryan has published his thoughts and learnings in an e-book, The Public Physician – Practical Wisdom for Life in a Connected, Always-On World. The Public Physician arose from the awareness that physicians been looking to policy statements to understand how they should handle engagement in the networked space. Bryan says “In reality, the lessons of what we should and shouldn’t do can be found within the living networks where communities of public physicians are creating the standards. I’ll do my best to offer a sensible and strategic perspective on how these standards can be applied in your world.”

And while Bryan states that his book is peer-to-peer advice, as non-physicians you and I are not excluded from that circle. Beyond merely organizing his writings from the past 5 years of blogging into book format, the content has been shaped by dialogue and commentary from his blog and Twitter followers – followers that include patients, caregivers, communicators, researchers, designers, IT specialists as well as fellow physicians.

And getting feedback doesn’t stop there. Bryan wants continued input. He plans to “pivot and revise, and adjust based on feedback. Is there a direction that I should take? What works, what doesn’t — from core content to editorial design. …what would represent a good chapter or subheading under a current chapter? I’m looking for brilliant input on helping doctors interface with e-patients, for example.”

This is where #hcsmca comes in. On Wednesday, October 29 at 9pm ET, Bryan will join #hcsmca to talk about the public physician and The Public Physician.

Here’s the general arc for the chat, but open for revision.

• T1: How does one “map” their public presence?
• T2: Discuss the opportunity & challenges of negotiating your digital footprint, connections & relationships through social networks.
• T3: How has online interaction shaped your thinking since 2008?
• T3b: How do you plan to use feedback for future updates of your book?

What specific questions would you like to ask Bryan on Wednesday?