Difficult Conversations Podcast

Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician

Episode 129 | February 2, 2021

Connect And Be Heard

Dr. Kevin Pho

Physician, Public Speaker and Author

Kevin Pho

Welcome to Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Today, my special guest is Dr. Kevin Pho, a board-certified practicing internal medicine physician, nationwide media commentator and author. If you’re in healthcare, you likely know about his website, KevinMD, which he built from scratch in 2004 and now receives 3 million visits per month. Dr. Pho has been named the web’s “Top Social Media Influencer” in healthcare and medicine. The New York Times called KevinMD “a highly-coveted publishing place for doctors and patients.” Forbes called KevinMD “a must-read health blog.” And CNN named @KevinMD one of its five recommended Twitter health feeds. As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, Kevin shares his story with both clinicians and non-clinicians. His signature keynote, “Connect and Be Heard: Make a Difference in Health care with Social Media,” takes the audience through Kevin’s social media journey since 2004. With video, audio, and an emphasis on storytelling, he inspires audiences to use social media and be healthcare influencers.

Dr. Kevin Pho tells us about himself, his journey, and why he started KevinMD. We learn how the idea of KevinMD came about, which started with his blog. He tells us about the percentage of KevinMD visits from patients and non-clinicians and he makes a point to say there is a tremendous thirst for health knowledge since healthcare is the third most popular use on the web. Dr. Orsini and Dr. Pho discuss how there is a lot of “false information” out there on websites, and how doctors need to guide patients to reputable sources of heath information. We learn about Dr. Pho’s take on the future of social media. One of Dr. Pho’s keynote speaking topics is physician and nurse burnout, he tells us his views and gives advice. Dr. Orsini talks about the lectures he has about burnout and using certain communication techniques can reduce burnout. Dr. Pho shares helpful advice for doctors who want to say they’re passionate about something and they want to get into something else. We end with Kevin telling us the most difficult conversations which he has encountered and shares advice on how to navigate through these difficult conversations. If you enjoyed this podcast, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

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