We’re communicating in real-time and we are up to 2000 users from 32 different countries. I monitor all these accounts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I can truly say that the information exchange and case presentations are fascinating!

The only problem is the WhatsApp platform has decreased performance because of changes WhatsApp has made to its user platform, presumably to decrease spam. For those of you wondering why you are not seeing as many redirects, it is because I am limited to only five redirects at a time, making redirects burdensome and time-consuming. Still, my impression is that our communications are beneficial to many countries and regions, as well as to groups such as our pediatrics group and South American IP group. 

Many physicians communicate in their natural languages rather than English. In these cases, I translate information before redirecting educational materials and interesting cases, Feedback from redirects have proven to be helpful, and in many cases change patient management. Thank you to all who contribute cases and opinions!

So where do we go from here, now that we have reached the 2000 users milestone? Many countries still have only a few users. Perhaps the admins for these groups can recruit new users? I am interested in knowing why colleagues are not eager to join your WhatsApp group and exchange information. 

For those groups with many users (anywhere from 50-250), please remember how helpful it is when you add references, scientific articles and other “evidence” to help support opinions. Also, remember that videos are most effective when they are short and edited. Same goes for photos (better to use one photo that combines other images, than four different photographs).

Stay tuned for more information on greenapplecleaningmd.com/ how we can increase our global communication efforts, and again, congratulations to everyone for reaching the milestone of 2000 users, which benefits patients around the world.

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