According to a recent study by Registered Nursing, healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, and dentists, are among the most popular professions on TikTok.
The study found that TikTokers have spent an average of 630 million hours watching videos involving doctors, surpassing 628 million hours watching teachers and around 427 million hours watching nurses’ videos.
After doctors, teachers, and nurses, chefs, dentists, pilots, chiropractors, and electricians were the next most popular professions on the platform. However, many other healthcare-related professions, such as orthodontists, pharmacists, dental hygienists, physician assistants, psychologists, optometrists, pediatricians, physical therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, and dieticians, all made it to the top 35.
In short, people flock to TikTok for health information, a trend that is not new. There are numerous famous physician influencers building their personal brands on the platform.
A study released earlier this year by Hall & Partner found that Gen Z and millennials are increasingly turning to TikTok for health advice and information instead of consulting their doctors. It also revealed that 18% of the U.S. population seek health information and guidance from social media influencers.
It’s not surprising, then, that doctors top the list of the most popular professions on TikTok.
The Registered Nursing study discovered that people particularly love healthcare videos that involve treatment explanations or breakdowns, as well as the infamous “doctor reacts” videos.
Content featuring pimple-popping, dietary advice, skincare guidance, and humorous commentary on daily life in the hospital has gone viral on the site, reaching millions of users.
Despite the popularity of healthcare information on the site, a lot of it can be misleading or misinformed.
A study released in December 2022 found that 84% of TikTok’s mental health videos, for example, are misleading.
Healthcare professions’ popularity, and perhaps simultaneously the lack of authoritative, quality information, on TikTok may present an opportunity for healthcare marketers.
