Intersection of Online Social Networking with Medical Professionalism: Can Medicine Police the Facebook Boom?

Abstract

; this is a larger issue that needs the attention of medicine as a culture and a profession.The authors' data suggest that Facebook accounts may soon become prevalent among a large number of medical students, residents of all years, and attending physicians. Thompson et al. show that 20% to 30% of all medical students and first through third year residents have a Facebook account. Only in the more senior residency years does the prevalence of Facebook accounts fall off: 10% in fourth year residents and ultimately 0% in sixth year residents. Although possible, it is unlikely that residents had Facebook accounts early in their training, but then closed their accounts later in residency. Instead, the relative absence of Facebook accounts in senior years of residency is likely a cohort effect. Facebook, which began in 2004 as a way for college students to communicate, has grown rapidly to more than 90 million active users 2 . By nature of being a social network embedded in colleges and active for only the last four years, more senior residents likely do not have accounts simply because they were too old to be caught in Facebook's rise in popularity. A reasonable prediction is that as junior residents advance in training, we will see an increased prevalence of Facebook accounts in senior residents, presumably as high as the 20 to 30% seen in medical students. If the current trend holds true, the large prevalence of Facebook users will soon include young faculty and junior attendings. As the authors conclude, there is a role for medical schools, residency programs, and the ACGME in providing trainees with sound advice around the use of social networking sites. However, the increasing incidence of Facebook usage among all physicians calls for a broader discussion across medicine's organizing and accrediting bodies. Organizations such as the AMA should facilitate a national conversation and the production of general guidelines for all physicians to draw upon when posting and sharing personal information on online social network sites.

The Patient–Doctor Relationship and Online Social Networks: Results of a National Survey

“…OSNs may lead to new kinds of patient-doctor interactions, raising questions about appropriate professional boundaries. 6,18,20,22,28 Physicians and physicians-in-training descriptively hold a variety of views regarding the ethical acceptability of such interactions, and the normative stance by medical professionals toward these interactions remains to be codified. 17 The nature of professional boundaries in the digital age is worthy of further reflection and investigation.…”

Pharmacy Students' Facebook Activity and Opinions Regarding Accountability and E-Professionalism

“…Because these issues are relatively new and society is still struggling to adapt to the changing paradigm, educating pharmacy students, particularly firstyear students, about e-professionalism issues may be warranted. 5,6 Comprehending how pharmacy students view the use of their online personas for judgments on professionalism and character is necessary for preparing them for their future role in society. Two of the questions that must be answered in order to design effective education in this area are ''Do pharmacy students breach principles of professionalism in online settings, and if so, are those transgressions due to lack of awareness, a defiant attitude, or both?''…”

Third-year medical students’ knowledge of privacy and security issues concerning mobile devices

“…Most of the research that has been done on social media use in medicine relates to professionalism (Gorrindo et al 2008;Chretien et al 2009;Strausburg 2011;Williams et al 2011) and the benefit of using social media (Ben-Yakov & Snider 2011;Tilt et al 2011;Wells 2011), but very little specifically addresses these topics in terms of privacy and security of mobile devices (Schuerenberg 2003;Pharow & Blobel 2008). While 128 out of all 132 accredited US medical schools have student guidelines available online, only 13 out of those 128 have guidelines/policies explicitly mentioning social media (Kind et al 2010).…”