Through my infertility journey, I’ve learned a lot about separating fact from fiction when it comes to online advice. And the biggest takeaway? Lean on the advice of experts before you start making changes that could actually hurt your chances of becoming pregnant.
This is especially true when it comes to medical and scientific advice found online. We wanted to highlight sources you can trust and that led us to Dr. Olivia of @docfluencermdo.
Dr. Olivia stand out as lighthouses in this sea of misinformation. She’s committed to sifting through the good, the bad, and the ugly to highlight the doctors who are worth following and empower us as social media users to do the same—especially if you’re dealing with infertility.
PherDal: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today, Dr. Olivia! To start off, what first inspired you to develop @docfluencermdo on Instagram?
Dr. Olivia: I wanted to create a hub of doctor influencers to have a community of like-minded individuals after I graduated residency. I started the page a few months after graduation! Throughout school, you always have a built-in group of friends, but after residency, I didn’t. So I wanted to create that for myself.
PD: Do the content creators for the trustworthy accounts you’ve featured on your page have a similar educational background and experience in the field as you?
DO: They have a similar educational background in the sense that they went to medical school, but the specialty differs every month. I’m in a family medicine position, and so far I have featured specialists in the endocrine, OB/GYN, surgical, pediatric, and dermatology fields.
PD: Let’s discuss the risks of heeding medical advice from the internet in general. Just how dangerous is it to listen to content creators without vetting them first?
DO: Extremely dangerous! Anyone can say whatever they want, including that they’re a doctor! Someone can share their personal medical experience, but we have to remember that’s just one story.
Practicing physicians are seeing hundreds of patients monthly. A trusted physician online is one that has the whole picture.
PD: What are some red flags that stand out to you when sifting through those purported “experts” on social media?
DO: Blanket statements or lack of curiosity. When I see a “docfluencer” who is judgemental of a comment due to a lack of education from a follower, we have to remember that it could easily turn them off of a better answer. For people to learn and listen, it’s important to stay nonjudgmental.
PD: Based on your work thus far, what makes a social media page reliable when seeking out medical information? Are there certain traits that people can look for as they discern what’s legitimate and what isn’t?
DO: This is a great question. To be honest, the team so far is small, so when I’m looking for a trusted voice on social media, I look at their bread-and-butter posts. Like, what is their specialty and what are the the core topics they cover? If they are a pediatrician, what do they have to say about RSV, vaccines, and gun safety? If they are an OB/GYN, what are they saying about birth control methods, maternal mortality rates, and the education around C-section vs. vaginal deliveries?
As MDs in DOs, we have a set of guidelines that we follow in order to keep our patients educated and healthy. We want to know if docfluencers are following these guidelines, and if they aren’t, why not? We also don’t want to close ourselves off to non-mainstream information, because that’s ultimately where mainstream ideas are born. When they begin to overlap, we want to be educated on both POVs so we can understand what the other side is saying.
PD: There’s a lot of misinformation in fertility health specifically, which I’m very concerned about as both a woman who was diagnosed with infertility and a scientist who founded a fertility device company. What would you say to readers searching for answers to their infertility questions online?
DO: Search for the information that makes you feel good. There’s only so much you can control, and following social media accounts that may scare you or bring you down may not help with your experience. Or maybe they do! Either way, do what works for you.
I recommend using docfluencers as an aid, not the only source. At the end of the day, they aren’t your doctor and they don’t know your specific medical information, so they are not truly speaking to you.
PD: By your estimate, what do you think the ratio is between credible medical accounts and the less-than-credible ones?
DO: I honestly can’t say! There are plenty of physician accounts on social media that are credible, which makes sense because physicians don’t want to tarnish all the hard work they put into earning their MD or DO degree.
PD: Are there any particular accounts or sources you’d like to share that provide informative content from qualified docfluencers? Shout them out for us!
DO: There are so many different areas of expertise a great docfluencer can help you with. For instance, if you’re a resident and balancing a family, I would highly recommend following Dr. Claudia Green. Dr. Rishi Kumar is a cardiac anesthesiologist who offers great advice about heart and circulatory-related issues. And, of course, you can always follow me on Instagram for advice on a wide range of health issues as well as updates on educational, entertaining, and credible physicians in each specialty!
Our Shared Mantra? “Do What Works for You!”
Dr. Olivia really nailed it with that one. Doing what works for you in your unique situation is the best piece of advice a doctor could give you, online or IRL. If you’ve searched high and low for infertility support and are looking for an empowering, personal answer, an at-home self-insemination puts control of your journey back into your own hands.
However, like with social media, insemination kits are growing in popularity. But, there is only one sterile insemination kit that is just like the clinic. The reality is, bacterial changes are the leading cause of unexplained infertility which means that sterility of the tools used for conception are crucially relevant.
Knowledge Is Power (and Purpose)
As with most things online, we have to be careful who we put our trust in while looking for input on medical issues. Infertility is such a complex experience, and doctors on social media can only do so much as they address a larger audience.
Luckily, with accounts like Dr. Olivia’s @docfluencermdo on our side, parsing through the bunk to reach the actual truth is still an option. With experts like her on your side and a dependable, scientifically proven infertility intervention that keeps control of your bodily autonomy in your hands in PherDal, you can start to find the path that leads you to real answers.
And the science and experience of thousands of people all confirm one thing: self-insemination works, and you have science on your side. Instead of uncomfortable in-clinic procedures like IUI or IVF, the PherDal kit ensures that you get the best shot at conceiving from the privacy of home by prioritizing sterility and your well-being. You can always trust in that, and in PherDal.
We’re here for you, for all of the ups and downs and unknowns, and for the questions you have that feel impossible to get a straight answer for when you plug them into a search bar.
