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Goodbye, Dr. Anonymous: Notable physician-blogger removes mask

A renowned Northeast Ohio physician-blogger and social media enthusiast has shed his anonymous web persona and is looking to become a more vocal advocate of primary care. The former Dr. Anonymous -- Salem, Ohio, physician Mike Sevilla -- has migrated his blog and web identity to a new site, Family Medicine Rocks.

A renowned Northeast Ohio physician-blogger and social media enthusiast has shed his anonymous web persona and is looking to become a more vocal advocate of primary care.

The former Dr. Anonymous — Salem, Ohio, physician Mike Sevilla — has migrated his blog and web identity to a new site, Family Medicine Rocks. Sevilla wrote that he’d hit the “glass ceiling” of success with his anonymous persona, and despite some misgivings, decided that the anonymity was limiting the perceived credibility of his words and opinions.

“If physicians really want our voices to be heard by patients and legislators, we should identify ourselves as ourselves and not hide behind anonymous tags,” he said.

Sevilla started as an anonymous physician-blogger in 2006 primarily due to his inexperience in social media. He viewed his entry into the blogosphere as an experiment and knew there would be missteps along the way, so his anonymity acted as a security blanket while he learned best practices. “I was concerned that if I made a major mistake, my name would be attached to it forever,” he said.

Sevilla hopes his step out from behind the veil of anonymity will help bring about more media opportunities and speaking engagements. If that happens, he may be a busy man because his Dr. Anonymous identity already generated plenty of speaking engagements on the value of social media for physicians at conferences and meetings of professional groups like the Ohio State Medical Association and Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.

The Dr. Anonymous blog and videocast has also brought lots of media attention to Sevilla, including being named one of “five great doctor blogs” by Fox News and several appearances on local TV news. But it was his December appearance on the cover of Medical Economics, a magazine marketed to primary care physicians, that brought a new level of recognition and began opening more speaking and media opportunities for Sevilla, he said.

The article — not to mention nearly five years of blogging and about 400,000 visitors during that time — have helped position Sevilla as a flag bearer of sorts (similar to physician uber-blogger KevinMD), in advocating physician use of social media. While many doctors may view social media as a luxury they don’t have time for, Sevilla suggests they think again.

“I feel strongly that doctors should be familiar with social media because their patients are going to drive them toward it,” he said. “But I don’t expect them to be as devoted and crazy about it as I am.”

In some regard, physicians may even have an obligation to engage in social media as a means of sharing their expertise and dispelling the bad science and medical myths that float around the web, Sevilla said (with the Jenny McCarthy-led crusade to link vaccination to autism an obvious example).  “If physicians get out there and use social media to share their points of view, they’ll be able to combat a lot of the bad information out there,” he said.

Among the projects that Sevilla’s blog has opened up for him is a collaboration with several other doctors and medical organizations that will involve using social media to help doctors improve their patients’ adherence to prescription instructions. Sevilla said more details will be forthcoming.

Here’s video of Sevilla’s appearance on a local newscast:

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