“In Times of COVID”: A Commentary on MedTwitter During Strange Times

A radiologist tweets a joke about COVID-19 and a cardiologist tweets a serious note on the role of doctors in shaping social policy. Both are met with similarly outraged reactions. Saurabh Jha (@RogueRad), MBBS, MRCS, MS, and John Mandrola (@drjohnm), MD, share with Chadi the immediate aftermath of their tweets and reflect on how social media has become intolerant of diverse opinions. You don’t want to miss this unfiltered episode with two of the most prolific physicians on Twitter.

Chadi invites Mary L (Nora) Disis (@DrNDisis), MD, editor-in-chief of Jama Oncology, to learn the ins-and-outs of what it takes to be the lead editor of a highly prestigious oncology journal. She shares what went into her decision to accept the editor-in-chief position and help launch the journal in 2015, what goes into her thought process for rejecting submissions and handling disgruntled authors, management and pain points of “content” and “statistical” peer-reviewers, thoughts on the oversaturation of poorly written COVID-19 papers published in high-impact journals, and plans for the future direction of the journal.

Pamela Kunz (@PamelaKunzMD), MD, director of the gastrointestinal cancers program, Yale University School of Medicine, divulges the subtle microaggressions and power differentials that she and other women experience as they find success in academic medicine, including public undermining of leadership roles and challenges of establishing relationships with pharmaceutical companies for research grants. She explains how she found the courage to speak about these experiences as she was leaving an institution, the fear of retaliation, and her hopes to not only empower other women to speak up, but also to bring further awareness to these issues. Read Dr Kunz's article in Mercury News on the culture of gender discrimination at her previous institution (https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/22/stanford-medical-school-professors-say-gender-discrimination-and-harassment-allowed-to-flourish/).