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Eiran Z. Gorodeski, MD, MPH, FHFSA[/caption]

Eiran Z. Gorodeski, MD, MPH, FHFSA is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and Staff Cardiologist in the Section of Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Heart and Vascular Institute. In addition to his clinical and research work, Dr. Gorodeski has significant experience in leadership, management, and program building in healthcare settings. He is the former Director of Cleveland Clinic’s post-acute care operations, and former interim Program Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Palliative Medicine program.

Dr. Gorodeski has an interest in the medical management of patients with advanced heart failure, in outpatient, inpatient and critical care settings. He is a clinical expert in cardiac transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and left ventricular assist device management. He has a special clinical and research interest in the care of older adults with heart failure, and is a member of the American College of Cardiology’s Geriatric Cardiology Section Leadership Council.

Dr. Gorodeski obtained his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree as Magna Cum Laude at Brandeis University. He received his medical doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society. He completed a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in quantitative methods at the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and his cardiovascular training at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Gorodeski completed the Managing Health Care Delivery program at Harvard Business School, and is currently enrolled in the Emotionally Intelligent Leader program at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Q&A  |  Social Media & Early Career Advice

• What advice would you give to early career professionals in their use of social media in their professional lives?
  Without a doubt, use of social media (SoMe), and specifically Twitter, has had a tremendous positive impact on my career. I use Twitter entirely for professional reasons: learning, educating, promoting, connecting, and networking. Early career professionals would be well served to recognize that a growing majority of our colleagues consume information through SoMe, and therefore using this medium effectively may give one’s career a boost. In 2014, we published a paper about the use of the Mini-Cog (three-word recall and clock draw test) in patients hospitalized for heart failure; I then subsequently wrote many tweets featuring grotesquely drawn Mini-Cog clocks from our database as a strategy to draw attention to our work. As a result I gained a following of like-minded clinicians, networked with other researchers in the field—some of whom later became collaborators, and was invited to give talks.
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  I am a big fan of using SoMe at national conferences, and especially at HFSA’s Annual Scientific Meeting. Because lectures are held simultaneously, and I can’t be everywhere at once, I frequently read other attendee’s tweets to catch up on what I’m missing. Additionally, as an academic and an educator, I make it a point to tweet out slides and discussion points that interest me in lectures I attend. I try to do it in a thoughtful manner that “cites” speakers by including a photo of them at the podium and their title slide. Based on what I’ve learned, I recently wrote a blog entry with advice for clinicians about how to give a lecture at a medical meeting in the age of SoMe.
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  I think that all of us who attend the HFSA meeting have an obligation to spread knowledge about heart failure to colleagues and patients around the world who can’t be there in-person—and SoMe is the best way. My iPhone and I worked hard at #HFSA2017, and we plan to do so again at future meetings. Please follow me on Twitter at @EiranGorodeski.

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• Is there anything you’d caution healthcare professionals to be aware of when using SoMe (ex, HIPPA, photos, copyright, etc.)?
  Healthcare professionals would be best served to maintain a high level of integrity and decorum when using SoMe. Personal and professional public accounts should remain separate. Patient data should not be shared unless it is completely anonymized. I also think that efforts should be made to cite other people’s words, presentations, SoMe postings, etc. This can be done creatively in a variety of ways, such as embedding other’s posts into yours, including links to publication websites, or featuring photos of speakers at the podium.

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• How has being an HFSA member changed or benefited your career?
  I am extremely thankful for all the benefits HFSA has provided me over the years. I attended the Turnberry Conference (now known as the HFSA Future Leaders in Heart Failure Symposium) early in my career as a fellow. This opened my eyes to our field and energized me. I learned from and interacted with legends in our field including Randy Starling, Gary Francis, Lynne Warner Stevenson, Marvin Konstam, and Clyde Yancy. I also networked with other fellows who are now life-long colleagues and friends.
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  I look forward to HFSA’s Annual Scientific Meeting every year. The education is tremendous and very practical. We try to submit research every year, and it’s always a thrill to be invited to give a talk. Every year it feels like I know more and more people—friends and colleagues, so in many ways it is a reunion.

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• What advice would you share with a member considering a volunteer position with HFSA or any professional society?
  I believe that volunteering for a professional society such as HFSA is a tremendous opportunity for several reasons. First, volunteering promotes the mission of our organization—“to provide a platform to improve and expand HF care through collaboration, education, innovation, research, and advocacy”—which we are all passionate about, and which would likely not be possible without our active participation. Second, volunteering alongside colleagues who share a similar passion for improving patient care and growing our field creates an opportunity for developing strong relationships. These relationships bring meaning to our life and work. Third, volunteering for our professional society can be good for our careers, through promotion of our interests and access to new information and opportunities. Finally, volunteering for our professional society can give us a sense of purpose. Volunteering means work without pay, and there’s therefore latitude to pick and choose projects/committees that one is most passionate about.
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  My advice for anyone considering a volunteer position with HFSA, or any professional society, is to carefully choose a project or committee that you feel most passionate about, and then engage in a collegial manner. Remember that everyone else is a volunteer as well. You will certainly benefit, and if the committee you chose wasn’t a good fit—find another one that is better aligned with your interests. Thank you for contributing to our field.

Thank you HFSA for choosing to feature me for this Member Spotlight—it is humbling, and truly a tremendous honor.