Five leading digital opinion leaders in women’s health advocacy and excellence
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Editor’s note: Saturday, Feb. 3, is National Women Physicians Day, which is observed each year to honor the achievements and contributions of female physicians in health care.
Women’s health directly relates to at least half of the world’s population. In the U.S., however, there have been recent calls to amend disproportionate underfunding into research, treatments and services for women and the health issues they face.
In a recent analysis, CREATION.co identified more than 10,000 online health care professionals who use their platforms to discuss the topic of women’s health. In the past 12 months, there were more than 50,000 social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) in which these online health care professionals shared their own experiences, called for more research and funding, and petitioned governments and other policymakers to prioritize improving care and services for women.
From the health care professional online women’s health conversation in the U.S. (gynecology and obstetrics, reproductive health, fertility and contraceptives), CREATION.co employed its CREATION Pinpoint technology as a means by which to identify the health care professionals who were leading conversation and influencing their peers in the field most effectively.
These are known as digital opinion leaders (DOLs), the top five of whom are all women.
A number of metrics were used to evaluate DOL status, including volume of relevant conversation, reach and engagement of content, strength of their peer network, level of trust and two-way communication. Ranging from just less than 2,000 to more than 300,000 followers, each identified health care professional holds a strong level of expertise and leadership in the area of women’s health — with their passion for the topic reflected in their online conversation.
Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald
Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald, MD, is a double board-certified urogynecologist and pelvic reconstructive surgeon at Magee-Womens Hospital and other clinics under the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her educational background and clinical practice are centered on women’s health care. Fitzgerald is a prominent advocate for both improved women’s health care and increased respect for gynecology surgeons.
In one of her most impactful posts about women’s health, Fitzgerald said the majority of her gynecology surgery peers have stories about being told they’re “wasting their talent.” In another, she shared her dismay that gynecology surgeries supposedly “don’t count.” Of her online posts on women’s health, 35% discussed endometriosis, about which she called for greater research and funding for better treatments.
women’s health campaigner. Fitzgerald utilizes her platform of more than 35,000 followers to champion improved care for women.
Martha Gulati, MD, MS
Martha Gulati, MD, MS, is a cardiologist who is an expert in women’s health and heart disease, passionate about saving women’s hearts and encouraging more awareness of risk factors. As well as a practicing cardiologist at Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, Gulati is president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, author of the best-seller Saving Women’s Hearts, and co-author of national guidelines for heart disease prevention in women, stress testing in women and the role of exercise stress testing.
Gulati’s online conversation brings the topic of women’s health to the narrative of other cardiologists, expanding the focus beyond OB/GYNs, midwives and other typical roles. She advertises training for cardiologists and internists in programs specifically on women’s heart health and celebrates positive outcomes for women such as the FDA approval of over-the-counter birth control.
CREATION.co classifies Gulati as a heart health expert due to her using her vast experience and training to educate both her medical peers and the public on women’s health as it relates to the heart.
Amanda P. Williams, MD, MPH
Amanda P. Williams, MD, MPH, is an OB/GYN and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and also works as a clinical innovation adviser for the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and medical director for Mahmee, a maternal health care company dedicated to improving birth outcomes. Williams describes herself as a health equity warrior, which is reflected in her online conversation — 43% of which covers equity issues. As seen with other prominent voices, she has shared her own journey publicly, with a post during #MaternalMentalHealthWeek describing her experience with postpartum depression during her residency.
Williams speaks highly of the role of doulas and midwives for facilitating improved maternal mental health and birth outcomes, aligned to her work as medical director at Mahmee. Other recommendations she presented for developing women’s, specifically maternal health, were utilizing telehealth and expanding Medicaid support.
rising star and equity advocate. While she has a modest following compared with other DOLs identified on this list, Williams has positioned herself as an expert and grown a focused community around maternal health equity.
Michal Elovitz, MD
Michal Elovitz, MD, is a physician-scientist in the field of women’s health and is currently dean of Women’s Health Research and director of the Women’s Biomedical Research Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a leader and mentor passionate about empowering the next generation of researchers, particularly women looking to grow in science and medicine.
Elovitz’s online conversation is heavily focused on research and emerging data, including calls for additional funding into women’s health research. She has been outspoken on the need for more training in the OB/GYN field, particularly for increased expertise in care for menopause. Elovitz is considered one of the world’s leading physicians in maternal-fetal medicine and internationally recognized for her cutting-edge research.
CREATION.co classifies Elovitz as a scientific leader due to her dedication to disseminating and improving women’s health research.
Jennifer Gunter, MD
Jennifer Gunter, MD, dubbed “Twitter’s gynecologist,” shares women’s health advice to more than 350,000 followers. Gunter is the author of various books, a New York Times columnist and has admitted to having “devoted [her] professional life to caring for women.” Gunter is a board-certified OB/GYN in the U.S. and Canada and currently manages a health clinic for women at the Permanente Medical Group of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.
Gunter’s online voice is raw and straight-speaking, giving realistic and unashamed descriptions of health challenges faced by women. Alongside a plethora of advice and rigorous information sharing, Gunter describes her own journey and struggles through childbirth, stating her motivation is to eliminate misinformation. Often, Gunter will be found directly quoting unfounded claims to correct them and specifically calling out instigators of fake news. The focus of her online discourse includes menopause, sexual health and menstruation. On TikTok, Gunter has captured a “menopause” playlist, covering hormone testing and starting hormone treatments.
CREATION.co classifies Gunter as a women’s health influencer. Due to her vast following across platforms and mainstream journalistic contributions, she has a significant influence over discourse and thinking about women’s health.
Seeking improved outcomes for women
Each of these women, and thousands of other men and women like them, are passionate and determined in their desire to see improvements in the field of women’s health across all fields — from childbirth to endometriosis, infertility and menopause. The influence of these DOLs in the online narrative from the niche of women’s heart health to the extensive disparities experienced by women have significant opportunities to inspire and action real-world change, the impact of which would be felt globally.
By knowing this online conversation and the DOLs within allows the industry to truly understand where passions lie and to develop intentional and productive relationships to work toward effective change. As the leading provider of DOL identification, profiling and activation, CREATION.co helps clients understand who are the real top voices online.
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Creation Healthcare is a specialist digital insights consultancy providing research and analysis to inform health strategy, communications and policymaking among some of the world’s largest health care companies, government organizations and nongovernment organizations. To learn more, email contact@creation.co.