5 Twitter Accounts every Nephrologist should Follow

I’ve written before about Twitter accounts to follow for dialysis patient resources, and now I’d like to share a few accounts I think my fellow nephrologists will be interested in. With content ranging from tweets during recent events like ASN Kidney Week to links to articles and even nephrology humor, these accounts can’t be missed. The number of nephrologists and nephrology fellows on Twitter has certainly increased in the last few years and there are many great accounts to follow. In fact, I created a nephrologist list on Twitter where you can find more.

@Kidney_Boy Dr. Joel Topf is the man behind Kidney Boy and the blog Precious Bodily Fluids. I like to follow Joel for several reasons. He is engaging on Twitter and responds to all tweets, and he isn’t afraid to insert a little nephrology humor into his tweets. Joel is a nephrologist in Detroit and is one of the most active nephrologists on Twitter. He also frequently tweets about best practices for physicians using social media, which is always valuable information for us as a physician community.

take a look at @Nephro_Sparks post on renal denervation, from 2010. He wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid: http://t.co/DnFsXx8JrA — Joel Topf (@kidney_boy) January 10, 2014

@eAJKD Dr. Matt Sparks runs the @eAJKD account and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases blog. It’s great to have a persona behind AJKD, and Matt is great at sharing information and mixing in discussion through his tweets. If nonstop news and resources for nephrologists is what you’d like to see in your Twitter feed, be sure to follow this account. 

Test Your Knowledge: #Hemodialysis http://t.co/SuwlZsfhHT — Dr. Matt Sparks (@eAJKD) January 13, 2014

@DrBobPro It’s true that he’s a colleague of mine, but I thoroughly enjoy reading tweets from Dr. Bob Provenzano, vice president of medical affairs at DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. Bob joined Twitter before I did and is part of the reason I decided to join myself. He posts links to relevant articles that are outside the typical nephrology journals that we read day in and day out.

Medtronic Nerve-Burning Failure Stymies Industry Progress http://t.co/w5uGxezf55 via @BloombergNews — Bob Provenzano, MD (@DrBobPro) January 11, 2014

@ASNKidney ASN is top of mind for me following the great Kidney Week meeting  this past November in Atlanta, but I always enjoy following the ASN Twitter account. Be warned: the volume of tweets is high, but they include great articles from JASN, a must-read resource for physicians.

ASN Public Policy Internship Program for fellows & junior nephrologists now accepting applications through Jan 27 http://t.co/jH8mlf7TiW — Am Soc Nephrology (@ASNKidney) January 17, 2014

@RenalFellowNtwk The Renal Fellow Network is a great resource for physicians entering the field of nephrology. The tweets pose engaging questions and involve followers in a dialogue about interesting topics. The Renal Fellow Network website focuses heavily on learning about nephrology topics, and that extends to this Twitter stream—a must-follow for fellows or anyone looking to continue learning.

.@kidney_boy @nephondemand Why punish trainees by limiting places in high-demand fellowships. Would you not want to go to the best place? — RenalFellowNetwork (@RenalFellowNtwk) January 6, 2014

I will try and retweet the highlights from many of these leading twitter accounts over time if you want to follow me on Twitter.

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UPDATE: I’d like to add one more to this list. As stated in his bio, Robert E. Blaser, Director of Public Policy, Renal Physicians Association, is a “health policy analyst focusing on care delivery issues affecting kidney disease practitioners and patients.”

CMS has posted meaningful use hardship exception application, see it here: http://t.co/xg8Tow8D9J. Is applicable to nephrologists — Robert Blaser (@RobertBlaser1) January 14, 2014