Social Media in Professional Medicine: New Resident Perceptions and Practices

Abstract

BackgroundFor younger generations, unconstrained online social activity is the norm. Little data are available about perceptions among young medical practitioners who enter the professional clinical arena, while the impact of existing social media policy on these perceptions is unclear.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the existing perceptions about social media and professionalism among new physicians entering in professional clinical practice; and to determine the effects of formal social media instruction and policy on young professionals’ ability to navigate case-based scenarios about online behavior in the context of professional medicine.MethodsThis was a prospective observational study involving the new resident physicians at a large academic medical center. Medical residents from 9 specialties were invited to participate and answer an anonymous questionnaire about social media in clinical medicine. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4 (Cary, NC), chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used as appropriate, and the correct responses were compared between different groups using the Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance.ResultsFamiliarity with current institutional policy was associated with an average of 2.2 more correct responses (P=.01). Instruction on social media use during medical school was related to correct responses for 2 additional questions (P=.03). On dividing the groups into no policy exposure, single policy exposure, or both exposures, the mean differences were found to be statistically significant (3.5, 7.5, and 9.4, respectively) (P=.03).ConclusionsIn this study, a number of young physicians demonstrated a casual approach to social media activity in the context of professional medical practice. Several areas of potential educational opportunity and focus were identified: (1) online privacy, (2) maintaining digital professionalism, (3) safeguarding the protected health information of patients, and (4) the impact of existing social media policies. Prior social media instruction and/or familiarity with a social media policy are associated with an improved performance on case-based questions regarding online professionalism. This suggests a correlation between an instruction about online professionalism and more cautious online behavior.Improving the content and delivery of social media policy may assist in preserving institutional priorities, protecting patient information, and safeguarding young professionals from online misadventure.

Evolving use of social media among Chinese urologists: Opportunity or challenge?

“…The use of social media by medical staff has grown substantially over the past decade. Social media, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other networking options, has been widely used in areas throughout medical practice, such as medical meetings and conferences[ 2 , 3 ], peer communication[ 4 ], medical education[ 5 , 6 ], patient management and education[ 7 ], public health[ 8 ], patient recruitment for studies and trials[ 9 ] and medical advertising[ 7 ]. Although emerging social media brings great merits and conveniences to medical practice, professionals and medical students alike continue to find themselves in ethical, professional, and/or legal trouble[ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Preserving Professional Identities, Behaviors, and Values in Digital Professionalism: A Scoping Review

“…This change can be attributed to increasing awareness about the deleterious effects of social media. The growing knowledge about ethical and moral use of social media can enhance its positive impact in the medical profession (42,46).…”

“…1. Usage of social media by healthcare professionals and students (1,7, By and large, the usage of social media by health professionals has escalated during the last decade (1,7,, there is a negative impact of social media usage on medical professionalism as re ected by erosion of professional integrity (11,17,21,(25)(26)(27)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41), an upsurge of awareness about professional identity but rise in unprofessional behaviors in the digital era (7,11,13,18,21,24,27,39,40,43,44) and some evidence of enhanced acquisition of knowledge about digital professionalism by incorporating structured modules in curricula (3,11,19,21,24,26,34,40,41,46,47).…”

Questioning reliability assessments of health information on social media

“…While there is an established understanding of social media’s increasing role in health information consumption and distribution [43–45], a majority of studies are either descriptive in nature—documenting the considerations, benefits, and potential shortcomings of individuals’ reliability assessments of health-related social media use [29, 46–49]—or focus on social media as a communication tool between patients and health care professionals [50–52]. …”