YouTube partners with Canadian certified doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals to bring quality medical information to our viewers.
The initiative started in the United States, expanded to the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and now comes to Canada.
Dr. Garth Graham, managing director and global head of healthcare and public health at Google/YouTube, said the platform is increasingly relying on social media to quickly search for their symptoms. He says he is aware of this.
“Gone are the newspapers, flyers and billboards. Health information on YouTube has been viewed more than 2 billion times and is used by over 1 million health channels across Canada. We're seeing how committed they are to our platform,” Graham said at a press conference in Toronto on Thursday morning.
YouTube has developed a program where medical professionals can apply to create content.
The program has a thorough vetting process to prioritize videos based on factual evidence over videos with high view counts.
“We see this as a major step in Canada to give consumers and patients the feeling that their information is coming from a licensed and qualified health care professional.” Graham he said.
The review process includes three steps. Verify professional licenses and good standing, follow community guidelines to ensure all content is research-based and transparent about conflicts of interest and product references, and avoid spreading misinformation. is.
YouTube releases a quarterly report on all removed content, including spam and misinformation, said communications director Zaito Muluzi.
“YouTube over-indexes trusted sources. When people search for health-related queries, 'from certified sources' appears at the top. Content that does not meet the guidelines will be removed,” Muluzi explained.
Dr. Siobhan Deschauer is the first certified Canadian physician on the platform, which has 1 million subscribers. She started her journey as a creator about six years ago, during her stay on YouTube Health.
“Healthcare happens behind closed doors. It's almost scary to step into it…These are really difficult times for many Canadians who don't have access to a family doctor or face extreme wait times.” she said.
For Deshower, creating content has become an integral part of being a physician, just like teaching and reading papers in addition to clinical work.
“It takes a lot of time and effort, which of course all doctors lack considerably. It's not direct patient care, but community building. Social media. “By creating it, we can take a step forward. We can reach millions of people, so it's very exciting,” she said.
Her latest “Medical Mysteries” video series explores complex medical cases, explains how doctors think and why patients experience long wait times, and gives viewers the chance to explore the medical experience. We help you understand both sides of the issue.
She also responds to comments from viewers who talk about their health experiences and symptoms, and receives emails from people who are inspired to pursue a career in the medical field because of her content.
YouTube is currently accepting applications, and medical professionals can receive certification within approximately three months.
