Reading the Mind: A Social Media-Facilitated Collaboration of US and UK Graduate Psychiatry Trainees.

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to describe a social mediafacilitated book group collaboration between graduate psychiatry trainees at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the USA and the South London and Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in the UK. Having an international venue to share culturally based observations and ideas about psychiatric texts enhances traditional graduate medical education methods and provides a model for life-long learning. Social media tools, which allow for dissemination of information and exchange of ideas among a global network of participants, are ideal for overcoming temporal and geographic barriers to international collaboration [1]. Several studies have shown the benefits of integrating social media into medical education [2]. Incorporating these tools allows medical trainees to engage and contribute to their own learning, which is considered one of the most effective methods of teaching [3]. Group discussions, especially through social media, are underutilized throughout the education system [4]. With this in mind, Johns Hopkins approached the Maudsley training program to create a new social mediafacilitated branch of the Maudsley’s existing Reading the Mind book group. Each branch conducts in-person meetings and the two branches communicate with one another via an interactive Twitter account and blogs. Combining in-person group discussion of seminal psychiatric texts with asynchronous discussion via Twitter and blogs has enabled the Johns Hopkins and Maudsley graduate trainees to create a forum for integrated, transcontinental education. Case Description