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Professional use of social media in

medical educationPresentation to uOttawa Undergraduate Medical Education Program

Sept. 3, 2013

uOttawa

Ann Fuller @annfuller

Pat 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 we are

Ann Fuller – Director, Public Relations - CHEO

Pat Rich – Managing Editor, Member Communications Canadian Medical Association

Both experienced health care communicators 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 WE ARE NOT

Physicians

Academics

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

Wh

at is

So

cial

Med

ia?

Extension of every day interaction Conversations & exchange Communities of shared interest Tools for innovation Integrates technology

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“We have current roles and guidelines but times are changing quickly. By 2017 patients and their health care providers are going to be communicating very differently.”

Dr. Darren Beiko, Queens University urologist, July, 2013

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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, Association Dean for CME, University of Indiana School of Medicine

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A changing environment

New health information technology tools Engaged patients Collaborative, team-based care

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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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Opportunities for change

Patient & family support

AdvocacyHealthEducation

Clinical care Research

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Opportunities for change

HealthEducation

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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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I think there are too many people on the Web offering advice to you on how to use social media. Most of this advice is just regurgitated advice from people you may never have heard of before,

…You really don’t need “How To” tips on blogging or Twitter. Oh, I’m confident that you’ll be told otherwise – but those folks, well-intentioned as they may be, don’t understand that you’re smarter than that.

Rather than learn bad habits from the get-go, take advantage of your lack of experience. It’s okay to make mistakes that don’t cause harm and violate the privacy and dignity of others.

From: Physician Social Media: Has Advice About It Become a Crock? Yes @philbaumann, Jan. 1, 2013

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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

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The rules - translated

“Don’t be banal, self-promote excessively, share confidential material (especially about patients), be a troll, break the law, commit a libel, or overdo it.”

Dr. Richard Smith, BMJ, March 1, 2012

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Key elements of the rules

* Apply same principles of professionalism that apply in person

* Respect 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

Impact to patients Liability Privacy Ethics Boundaries Time theft Reputation Compensation

The

cha

lleng

es

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: The Case of the Facebook Faceplant

The Case of the Facebook Faceplant

From: Academic Life in Emergency Medicine – MEdIC Series

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Case study III

Susan is helping treat a patient who she is certain she has read about. She seems to remember that he has been associated with violent and criminal activities. The patient’s medical record makes no mention of any psychological or psychiatric issues.

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 III – Looking up patients on Facebook

Topic of widespread debate in the social media community earlier this year and subject of more than one Tweet chat

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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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

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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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Take home messages

Social media are an established part of society and social interaction

Social media use by physicians in Canada is low Consider using social media:

As tools to support your learning activities As tools to support research To enhance what you are doing as practitioner

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▸ Questions?