Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The proliferation of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic provides a clear example of the harms that can occur when medical professionals do not engage with the public regarding health topics. To address this need for accessible, accurate medical information, we taught medical students a COVID-19-specific curriculum tailored to sharing this information with the lay public via social media. Through active learning, students developed their understanding of disease-specific pathophysiology, prevention techniques, treatments, and public health interventions while practicing new skills in public communication as health professionals. After two cohorts completed the course, students' high-quality medical information about COVID-19 reached >100,000 viewers. To further broaden the impact, we shared the course curriculum through the Association of American Medical College (AAMC) iCollaborative. This curriculum provides a model for future engagement of medical students in health communication with lay audiences.
Highlights
To meet the public’s need for truthful, understandable health information, health professionals must meet people where they are; currently, the public is highly engaged on social media
We started by providing broad overviews and introductions to different topics and encouraged students to search the news, social media, and scientific literature to find a specific topic within the broader domains of COVID-19 to study with the intent of creating content about this topic to share with a lay audience
Our evaluation demonstrates that teaching students how to share health information publicly through social media can help students gain mastery over a new medical topic, while performing a public service to our profession and our patients
Summary
To meet the public’s need for truthful, understandable health information, health professionals must meet people where they are; currently, the public is highly engaged on social media. The aim of the course was to teach students about COVID-19 "in a manner that facilitates rigorous evaluation of the evolving sources of information about the disease and to engage the students in public service to the medical profession, and our patients, by amplifying high-quality information about COVID-19 on social media" (Quadri et al, 2020a). While class discussions and lectures were essential, the primary focus of the course was for students to study and create their health communication messages independently, returning to a group setting for instruction and feedback Based on this experience, we would like to share with you 12 tips for engaging medical students as important medical communicators through social media during the time of COVID-19 and promoting health in all aspects through social media well into the future
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