YOU may recognise Dr Karan Raj for his impressive social media presence.
The NHS doctor provides followers with advice and debunks health myths. Here’s what we know about him.
1
Who is Dr Karan Raj?
Dr Karan Raj is a surgeon whose full name is Dr Karan Rangarajan.
He has amassed millions of followers across his social media platforms including 5.3million on TikTok as of September 2024.
He can also be found on Instagram at @drkaranrajan where he has 1.4million followers.
Dr Karan was born in Mumbai, India before he moved to Nairobi when he was just three.
Just a year later he moved to Hong Kong and then London when he was five.
He went to Westminster School in central London before going to Imperial College where he studied medicine.
What content does Dr Karan Raj make on TikTok?
Dr Raj posts an array of videos which mostly focus on health.
He first started posting videos on YouTube in 2012 with the aim of making sure more people are aware of their health.
He then moved over to TikTok in 2019 where he soon started talking about Covid.
The doctor found that misinformation was being spread online about the vaccines and wearing gloves and he wanted to tackle this.
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However, he also talks about less serious topics such as the myth that drinking lemon juice will stop acid reflux.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said he is interested to get to the bottom of the questions himself.
He said: “I’m just really curious, so I learned all these things.
“The videos that you see are a reflection of my curiosity.
“If I find something interesting, I want to tell the audience that and hopefully they find it interesting as well.”
The seven health conditions a pharmacy can treat
A scheme dubbed Pharmacy First allows chemists to treat seven common health conditions.
Rolled out in pharmacies in England in 2024, it means that you do not need to wait to see a GP. You can get treatment straight from a trained pharmacist.
In the same way that a GP would, the pharmacist will ask you a few questions about your health, do an examination and offer you a treatment based on these findings.
This will see pharmacists dishing out antibiotics without needing the OK from a GP for the first time.
The common conditions currently include:
- Sinusitis
- Sore throat
- Earache
- Infected insect bite
- Impetigo
- Shingles
- Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI) in women
Dr Raj’s career highlights
Aside from his social media career, Dr Raj has several other career highlights.
Securing a book deal
Dr Raj released his own book in late 2023.
This Book May Save Your Life provides facts about the human body and aims to put people’s minds at rest when it comes to their health.
Dr Raj said: “It’s a cocktail of my memories from med school, time as a hospital doctor, as a surgeon, anecdotes from that.
“But also debunking the medical myths that I talk about online, interesting facts that I always love to share, medical history — which is another passion of mine — combined with health hacks and to improve people’s lives.”
Launching his own podcast
Dr Raj began a podcast which explores health headlines.
He talks about what health topics are in the news which can range from mental health to menopause to sex.
Life away from TikTok
When Dr Raj isn’t working on his social media, he is working as an NHS doctor.
He says he sees several patients each day but also tries to keep some free time for himself on the weekend.
He has said he enjoys working out, gardening and baking.
