Abstract
Most medical students worldwide are using some form of social media platform to supplement their learning via file sharing and to stay up-to-date on medical events. Often, social media may blur the line between socialization and educational use, so it is important to be aware of how one is utilizing social media and how to remain professional. Research has yielded some troublesome themes of misconduct: drunken behaviour, violations of confidentiality and defamation of institutions. Because there is no universal policy to monitor online professionalism, there exists the potential for indiscretions to occur. It has been reported that misdemeanours can affect future residency placements and employment for medical students. Accordingly, studies suggest that educators need to recognize this new era of professionalism and adapt policies and reprimands to meet modern outlets where professionalism may be violated.
Highlights
It has been observed that the majority of North American and European medical students use various social media platforms (Facebook®, Twitter®, YouTube®) for file sharing, circulation of educational resources and staying connected with peers.[1,2,3] Defining online professionalism is difficult, and there are a number of cases where lapses occur in the medical student population
Research shows that there is a potentially dangerous dichotomy between the online social lives of modern medical students and professionalism requirements of medical career for which they are training.[4,5,6]. Though this is a problem in professional medical practice as well, this narrative review will focus on examining social media use by medical students, with a concentration on online professionalism and how education on the topic is, or should be, integrated into the world-wide medical school curricula
Almost all medical schools have a social media presence, but most have no method of addressing unprofessional behaviour,[2,17] nor do they have a set of solid rules pertaining to unprofessional postings.[16,17]
Summary
It has been observed that the majority of North American and European medical students use various social media platforms (Facebook®, Twitter®, YouTube®) for file sharing, circulation of educational resources and staying connected with peers.[1,2,3] Defining online professionalism is difficult, and there are a number of cases where lapses occur in the medical student population.
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