50000 followers on Instagram. Such a crazy number. Never would I have thought that the desire to learn evidence-based medicine to be so much that this many people would be reading my posts, commenting, and sharing with friends and colleagues. Ashley Adkins (@asheyadkinsrn) mentioned to me several months ago when we were both quickly ascending in follower count that the craziest thing she could imagine was that her followers could fill up certain sporting venues. The really put things into a certain perspective for me as all of you could now overfill Coors Field in Denver.

I have to start off by thanking my wife. Truth be told, every time I am working on a post is usually time that we are not spending together. Now, I know that time apart may be welcome in some marriages, but for one reason or another she really likes to hang out with me. I can’t understand why. I’m quite the nerd IRL in case you didn’t notice.

It’s ultimately not about the follower count. That’s just a number. You all follow this account because you expect a certain type of quality and honesty from me and the content I put up. You expect that everything I post has a citation accompanying the data so you could verify everything yourself. All in all, you are 50,000 individuals who are trying to take the best care of your patients possible. You were already good at your job, now you’re trying to be elite. In turn, your patients are benefiting. To think that, although I take care of x amount of patients a day at my own shop, the data I share here is getting to an exponential amount of patients in the way of better care, is truly humbling. This is crazy to me.

I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t learn something from each and every one of my posts that have led to 50000 followers. This is also an attempt to be the best intensivist I could possibly be. I have been privileged to have gotten into a career and field where peoples lives are dependent on my decisions. I will work my butt off to try to make the best decisions I can with the best available knowledge. The hardest part, though, is that despite all I read and can learn, I will make mistakes. Inevitably, I am human.

You are here knowing you’re going to get some no-BS medical content. Here’s the requirement. You have to deal with my crappy handwriting and the highlighting that comes from my iPad and Apple Pencil. This account is ultimately not about me as a person, photos where I pose, or the lifestyle. It is about taking better care of patients than we did yesterday.

I definitely have to thank many other people for helping me get to 50000 followers. I could not do it without all of you, small accounts and large, who have shared my posts and work with your followers. Thank you all.
-EJ

For more you can follow me on Instagram HERE.
I am continuously working on several ultimate guides that you can check out below:
Lactic Acid in Sepsis & the Critically Ill: The Ultimate Guide
Fluid Resuscitation in Sepsis and Volume Responsiveness

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