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How to Spot Medical Misinformation Online

Dr. Jayne Morgan explains how to identify credible medical experts on social media and avoid misinformation.
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Duration: 2:05

About this video

The internet is often a 'wild west' of medical advice. Dr. Jayne Morgan discusses the common scenario where patients bring inaccurate search results into the office. She provides actionable tips on how to identify true experts, such as looking for 'MD' or 'DO' credentials and verifying the existence of their medical schools. Learn why it is essential to unravel misinformation to ensure everyone leaves conversations with the most accurate health facts possible.

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And oftentimes, this is a common scenario. When we talk about patients coming in with their Google searches or any search that they have done, and they have information which might not be quite accurate, or sometimes it's just completely inaccurate. That is a common scenario that we often have to address, not just in the patient's office, at a dinner party, someone brings it up. As soon as they find out a doctor's at the dinner party, they start talking to you about all the things that they have researched. And so it does take some time, sometimes, to start to unravel that and make certain that when people leave from any conversation with you, they leave with accurate information, including maybe on social media, where you can redirect them to a more accurate source.

So when we talk about where people, where patients can find more accurate information on social media, it is a bit of a wild, wild west. But here may be just some caveats. Look for people who have real credentials. For instance, an MD behind their name, not the doctor in front of the name, the MD behind it, or even a DO, or any of those credentials. That gives you an idea that they actually have studied and actually do have expertise in this area. Everyone can call themselves anything online on social media, so look for people who have credentials. If you're digging deeper, look for schools that actually exist.

A lot of times people have resumes, and if you dig deeper, you find out that schools don't actually exist.

So if the school sounds strange and no one's heard of it, it might not actually exist. And then I'll just say, I'm actually a great source. You should follow me on social media, Dr. Jayne Morgan, D-R-J-A-Y-N-E M-O-R-G-A-N. I'm on social media. I always give accurate information.

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