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Professional use of social media in medical educationPresentation to uOttawa Undergraduate Medical Education Program
Sept. 2, 2015uOttawaAnn Fuller @annfullerPat Rich @cmaer
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Lecture Objectives
Discuss the potentials of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ in medical education.
Discuss the safe and professional behaviours regarding social networking usage.
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Who I am
Pat Rich – Strategic Advisor, CMA Enterprise Marketing and Communications
Experienced health care communicator with a keen interest and involvement in the use of social media tools in medicine and health care and believers in the value of these tools
WHO I AM NOT
Physician
Academic
Medical students and social media – A perspective
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things
1 Corinthians 13
Wha
t is
Soci
al M
edia
? Extension of every day interaction Conversations & exchange Communities of shared interest Tools for innovation Integrates technology
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Social media, health care and medical students – a timely case study
Canadian Medical Association General Council meeting
Halifax – Aug. 24-26
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#cmagc
Impressions – 23.4 million
Tweets - 10,758
Participants - 1,946
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A changing environment: Are you digitally literate enough to be a physician? “Today’s medical professionals must be masters of different skills that are related to using digital devices or online solutions” and mastering those skills “is now a crucial skill set that all medical professionals require.”
Dr. Bertalan Mesko
The democratization of media has made every physician an independent publisher …physicians now have to learn to manage and maintain their identity in the public space,”
Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, From an article by Stephen Pelletier, in the AAMC Reporter, Aug, 2014
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Why care“Whether physicians are active on social media or not, an understanding of social media and its potential implications on their professional lives is essential.”
Dr. Hartley Stern, CEO, Canadian Medical Protective Association
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Why consider using social media
To stay informed As a learning tool in medical education Communicate (engage) with peers and patients Disseminate information Advocate for/against something To help get a job To deliver clinical care Because if you decide not to use social media, your decision should be
based on sound knowledge about what you are choosing not to use
Impact to patients Liability Privacy Ethics Boundaries Time theft Reputation Compensation
The
chal
leng
es
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Opportunities for change
Patient & family support
AdvocacyHealthEducation
Clinical care Research
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Opportunities for change
Patient & family support
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Opportunities for change
Clinical care
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Opportunities for change
Advocacy
Average time between discovery of medical innovation and widespread adoption?
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Social media “policies” by academic medical centers or medical schools point out the “don’t do this, don’t do that”, but let’s also focus on what the trainees CAN do. Let’s consider how we can IMPROVE our current health care system and ultimately the care of patients with innovative uses of social media and social networking …
Dr. Alex Djuricich, Associate Dean for CME, University of Indiana School of Medicine
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Who is making the rules
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Guidelines Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) Guide to Medical
Professionalism: Recommendations For Social Media Canadian Medical Association – Issues and Rules of Engagement Canadian Medical Protective Association
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Key elements of the rules
Apply same principles of professionalism that apply in personRespect patient confidentiality
“Student professionalism … can be strained by the use of social media due to its familiarity, ubiquity and impersonal nature.”
“Social media should be treated as a public forum akin to an op-ed in a newspaper or a lecture. Anything that would be inappropriate to share in these more traditional outlets should be considered inappropriate to share online.”
CFMS Guide to Medical Professionalism: Recommendations for Social Media
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“Don’t Lie, Don’t Pry
Don’t Cheat, Can’t Delete
Don’t Steal. Don’t Reveal”
Dr. Farris Timimi, medical director, Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, April 5, 2012
Case study: The Political Resident
Brandon is a resident who, since starting medical school, has kept a blog about his views on medicine, medical education, and health care politics. Recently, Brandon has blogged extensively about his extreme political views regarding the upcoming election. His residency director reads his blog and tells him that he must delete his posts and can no longer write new ones, as he is not only a hospital employee and a representative of the residency program, but also a professional who must represent himself accordingly
American College of Medical Schools Digital Literacy Toolkit
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Discussion
Is it reasonable for the residency program director to tell this resident that this non-medical blog should be removed? The residency director tells this resident to remove his blog. What would an appropriate response be? A. What a resident does on his own time is his business. B. He should have asked him to remove the offending posts and be
careful in the future. C. When you are a student and resident, you are ultimately under the
guidance of your dean and residency director.
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Case study II – Looking up patients on Facebook
Susan is a psychiatrist who is treating a patient who is will reveal little or any personal information.Susan believes a better understanding of the patient and his individual circumstances would aid her in providing more better treatment.To do this, Susan decides to look the patient up on Facebook to see what – if anything has been written about him.
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Case study II – Looking up patients on Facebook
Topic of widespread ongoing debate in the social media community
Would it be a different situation if Susan just thought the patient was vaguely recognizable and checked on Facebook to see if he was anybody famous?
“Do it if your conscience says there’s a good clinical reason for doing so.”
– White Coat Black Art host Dr. Brian Goldman
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Social media at medical school
Students who don’t use social media in school “are missing out.”
Dr. Mike Leveridge, Queen’s University urologist
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Using social media in medical school: Suggestions
Facebook presence for classmates etc LinkedIn account to:
Build network for future career Follow discussion forums on medical education
Twitter account to: Develop your list of people, journals and other accounts to follow Watch (and engage) medical Twitter community (e.g. #hcsmca,
#hcsm) Follow and engage your professors
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▸ Questions?