It’s Whatever Wednesdays and this will be a short post on just What is #illumedati?
Well, first let’s go back to when it all started. You can read my post from October 17, 2016 to see where the name came from.
Essentially, I was trying to create my own hashtag, mostly just to catalog my blog posts and keep them separate from my normal Twitter GIF spamming. I liked the whole “Twitterati” moniker which means “avid or frequent users of the social media website Twitter” (from the Oxford Dictionary!)
So I thought maybe using #mederatti would be nice to make it more “medical”. I envisioned people posting stuff under that hashtag which were cool/interesting, but maybe too unprofessional/quirky for the conventional #medtwitter.
However, @datinglikewhat, now @relatableafmd, who, by definition, is relatableaf, eloquently thought up illumedati… which sounds so much better.
What are you using it for?
So I’ve basically been using #illumedati to catalog my blog posts. So if anyone on Twitter reads one of my posts, they can just just click #illumedati to get a bunch of my blog posts and see if there is anything of interest to them. By the way, the only account on #illumedati is @illumedati, which is also mine.
I mashed together this image on photoshop of these two symbols:
The “Illuminati” symbol of an equilateral triangle and an eye.
The most commonly used (but incorrect) symbol of medicine which is the Caduceus.
For those interested, for some reason the Caduceus is used incorrectly to symbolize medicine, mostly in the United States. Technically, it should probably be Rod of Asclepius.
“The two-snake caduceus design has ancient and consistent associations with trade, eloquence, trickery, and negotiation. Tangential association of the caduceus with medicine has occurred through the ages, where it was sometimes associated with alchemy and wisdom.
The modern use of the caduceus as a symbol of medicine became established in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century as a result of documented mistakes, misunderstandings and confusion” (emphasis mine) Source
However, like many things in medicine, mistakes (and misnomers) are carried down and difficult to change. So even if it probably shouldn’t be the symbol of medicine, it is now.
What is “illuminati”?
So the illuminati has a long history, about a small group which essentially controls the world. However, around 2011, it became a meme.
When something happens that can not be explained then you state “Illuminati Confirmed”. Source
However, that is not the way I am using it here. Illuminati is the plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”. So a person who was part of the “illumedati” is an enlightened person in medicine.
Now, now, I’m not arrogant enough to consider myself enlightened.
However, I do have experience and knowledge which allow me to help those younger than me. There are others who can also share their experiences and knowledge as well. We can all learn from each other about things both inside and outside of medicine.
This isn’t organic chemistry anymore where the gunners hide their best notes and study guides from each other. Hopefully we have all moved past that stage of competitiveness in our lives.
A career in medicine is hard. Help your colleagues and help yourself. Help me help you.
As such, if you have the willingness to learn from others and teach the next generation, then you are part of the #illumedati.
TL;DR
#Illumedati means “enlightened person in medicine”.
It’s about people in medicine sharing their experiences with each other to help each other out.
It’s about helping those who come after us to learn from our mistakes and have an easier time.
This is my mission… your mission… our mission. It’s dangerous to go alone.
-Sensei
Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.
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