Dr. Vivek Murthy might be the first true techie to hold the prestigious job of U.S. surgeon general. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Murthy is a big fan and user of social media.
In a wide-ranging interview published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week, Murthy, who was sworn in as surgeon general in last week after more than a year on the job in an “acting” capacity, discussed his life as an immigrant, his choice of medicine as a career and some of his controversial statements on guns being a healthcare issue. But we were immediately drawn to his comments on social media.
“Social media and digital platforms are a key part of what we’re going to be doing. In an age where we have so many messages about health that are out there, where we have a lot of confusion among people about what’s healthy to eat or not eat, about whether certain procedures and medicines are safe or not, it’s important for us to make sure we’re reaching as many people as possible,” Murthy said in the Q&A-style article. “We recognize that we have to communicate through traditional media, but we also have to communicate through new media as well. We also have to do things the old-fashioned way, which is to go directly to where people are and to speak with them. My goal as surgeon general is to utilize as many platforms as possible, to partner with a diverse set of individuals and institutions to make sure that our messages around health are reaching as many people as possible.”
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JAMA staff noted that Murthy has active Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts, and he has fun with those. His official @Surgeon_General Twitter page features a photo of Murthy with the “Sesame Street” character Elmo. This month, Murtha appeared in a video with Elmo to discuss the importance of childhood vaccinations. It has been viewed more than 277,000 times.
Murthy, 37, also talked about past surgeons general he admired, naming Dr. C. Everett Koop as his favorite. Koop served in the 1980s, pre-social media, but was the kind of leader who might have embraced social platforms.
“[Koop] was willing to tell the public the truth about health issues when it mattered the most. That’s an important principle for me as well. I recognize that I’ve been entrusted with a great responsibility in this role, which is to look out for the health of millions of people across America. It’s a role I’m honored to take on. It’s one I cherish, one that I will do everything I can to succeed at. But part of that is telling people the truth about what we know and what we don’t know about the important health issues. That’s something that C. Everett Koop did well, and that is something that will be a priority for me during my tenure,” Murthy said.
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JAMA did not publish anything about Murtha’s background as founder and CEO of TrialNetworks, a Needham, Mass.-based company that provides cloud-based services for managing and optimizing clinical trials.
