Counteracting medical misinformation

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an unprecedented spread of medical misinformation, exacerbated by the overwhelming amount of information accessible on social media which can make it difficult for the public to discern what’s trustworthy and what’s not. Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, dean for medical education at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, has seen first-hand the dangers that medical misinformation can cause – including foregoing life-saving tests and treatments – and is preparing future clinicians to build trusting relationships with patients in order to help dispel misinformation.

Dr. Arora, along with two UChicago medical students – Naomi Tesema and Maeson Zietowski – shared their personal experiences with medical misinformation and discuss the ways that a newly-created science communications course (funded by AAMC through a CDC grant) is teaching enrollees how to harness the power of storytelling to decrease the spread of misinformation.