Trends in Social Media and Mobile Applications Among Medical Students Entering Obstetrics and Gynecology [7I

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Increasing popularity of social media and mobile devices has greatly impacted medicine. The potential implications in patient care have resulted in formal policies in many healthcare institutions. We sought to identify trends in social media, use of mobile technology, and exposure to social media training and policies among medical students entering OBGYN. METHODS: We surveyed all medical students attending the national American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Medical Student Course from 2012-2016 regarding social media use, use of mobile medical applications, and prevalence of medical school social media policies and training. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared analyses were performed as appropriate. RESULTS: 742 of 815 (91%) students from 48 states responded. Most (68%) were third-year students, women (84%), and age 20-30 years (92%). Social media use increased from 81% to 94% of students (p=0.0001). Facebook™ was the most commonly used site. Mobile medical applications were used by 92% of students; 89% thought medical applications were helpful in learning. The most commonly used applications were Epocrates™ (77%) and UpToDate™ (76%). Medical school policies and training in social media increased from 23% to 37% (p=0.0065) and 35% to 57% (p=0.0004) respectively. CONCLUSION: Medical students planning to pursue OBGYN report increasing use of social media and medical school policies and training in social media. Mobile applications are frequently used as a valued method of learning in the clinical setting. These trends will likely impact learning and patient care, and can be useful in developing educational curricula and communication platforms for our next generation of OBGYNs.