2020 will be remembered for many things, but the one that most directly affected my livelihood and career has been the COVID-19 pandemic. We learned about the SARS-CoV-2 virus in early 2020 and watched pseudoscientists (including many high office politicians) dismiss it as a hoax or underplay the effects it could have. I watched a large group of Americans, skeptical about everything outside of their understanding, resort to protests and unsubstantiated claims over the experts. While other countries were able to focus on the science and rally together as a society, our incredibly entitled population chose to align with politics rather than making sacrifices for the common good benefits everyone. What – a – concept.
As a dual trained cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and intensive care physician, I was called to help attend in COVID ICUs around the city. I love the multidisciplinary aspect of critical care, but when the overwhelming majority of patients have COVID-19, it’s disheartening and exhausting. At the time of this writing, nearly 350,000 Americans have lost their lives (while countless others suffered morbidity) due to COVID-19.
Fortunately, vaccines have started rolling out to healthcare professionals. With that comes another wave of skepticism and pseudoscience plastered all over the Internet from the “woke” minds of people who, quite frankly, have no idea what they’re talking about.
In keeping with my posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 the following table represents some basic numbers regarding my growth on social media.
| SOCIAL MEDIA STATS | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| RK.md Post Count (Yearly) | 82 | 115 | 123 | 146 | 167 | 90 |
| RK.md Comment Count (Yearly) | 124 | 163 | 234 | 338 | 447 | 498 |
| Twitter Followers | 1,875 | 2,292 | 2,508 | 2,659 | 2,977 | 3,990 |
| Facebook Followers | 48 | 92 | 237 | 770 | 5,116 | 14,363 |
| Instagram Followers | 494 | 1,225 | 18,229 | 62,105 | 96,025 | 128,358 |
| YouTube Subscribers | – | – | – | – | 975 | 3,026 |
| MailChimp Subscribers | – | – | 90 | 295 | 545 | 1,153 |
GADGETS IN 2020
- Bose Soundbar 700
- Apple iPad Pro Magic Keyboard
- Nomatic Tech Case
- Sony a6400 Mirrorless Camera
- Sigma 16 mm F1.4 DC DN Lens
- Deity V-Mic D3 Pro Microphone
- Logitech MX Master 3 for Mac
- Apple Watch 6
- Drobo 8D direct-attached storage
- Butterfly iQ+ portable ultrasound
- Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Apple 13″ M1 MacBook Pro
TOP POSTS OF 2020
- RK.md’s Perioperative And Critical Care Reference Sheet
- What Does Gtt Mean?
- How Chest Tube Drainage Systems Work
- Difference Between TID, q8h, and PRN Dosing
- Basics Of Mechanical Ventilation
- Oxyhemoglobin Dissociation Curve
- Peak Pressures vs Plateau Pressures
- RA/CVP Waveform Interpretation
OTHER FEATURED POSTS OF 2020
- Antibody Structure
- How mRNA Vaccines Work – Gene Transcription And Translation
- MAC, Cordis, Sheath Introducer – What’s The Difference?
- Creating My Educational Posts – From Inception To Final Product
- Pharmacokinetics
RK.MD USER METRICS
ON TO 2021
With the whirlwind 2020 has been, I’m hoping 2021 will see COVID-19 finally get curbed as vaccines continue to roll out. Now that I’ve been an attending for over a year, it’s time for me to also buckle down and start paving my way for promotion.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year! 🙂
