Opinions of Students from a Brazilian Medical School Regarding Online Professionalism

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Unprofessional online behavior by medical students or physicians may damage individual careers, and the reputation of institutions and the medical profession. What is considered unprofessional online behavior, however, is not clearly defined and may vary in different cultures. OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency with which students from a Brazilian Medical School come across ten given examples of unprofessional online behavior by medical students or physicians, and gather the opinions of participants regarding the appropriateness of these behaviors. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 350 students from the Medical School of Bahia, Brazil. Only those who had a profile in social media were included in the final analyses. RESULTS: 336/350 (96.0 %) medical students kept a profile in social media. Only 13.5 % reported having discussions about online professionalism during ethics classes. They reported witnessing the investigated examples of unprofessional online behavior with varying frequencies, ranging from 13.7 % for "violation of patient's privacy" to 85.4 % for "photos depicting consumption of alcoholic beverages". Most participants felt neutral about posting "pictures in bathing suits", whereas the vast majority rated "violation of patient's privacy" as totally inappropriate. When presented with a case vignette illustrating violation of patients' privacy (publication of pictures of hospitalized children or neonates in social media), however, most participants felt neutral about it. Participants considered all investigated examples of unprofessional online behavior more inappropriate if carried out by doctors rather than by students. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students are witnessing a high frequency of unprofessional online behavior by their peers and physicians. Most investigated behaviors were considered inappropriate, especially if carried out by physicians. Participants were not able to recognize the publication of pictures of hospitalized children or neonates in social media as cases of violation of patients' privacy. Further studies are needed to determine if an academic curriculum that fosters online professionalism will change this scenario.

Ética e Profissionalismo nas Redes Sociais: Comportamentos On-Line de Estudantes de Medicina

“…Estudos 14 .Já no presente estudo, em relação à opinião dos estudantes sobre o impacto de postagens na reputação do médico, 79,2% (106) deles concordam parcialmente ou totalmente em que "Certos conteúdos do perfil pessoal do Facebook do médico podem difamar a reputação do mesmo". Entende-se por "reputação" o conceito atribuído a alguém.…”

“…Foram reportados comportamentos que divergem do recomendado por códigos de ética, guidelines e orientações de comportamento em redes sociais entre estudantes de Medicina de alguns países, inclusive de estudantes brasileiros 4,14 . Com base nesses dados, em busca de alternativas diante desses impasses, surge o questionamento: algum aspecto da educação médica na graduação tem associação com esses comportamentos?…”

Web 2.0: How Social Networking Sites are Impacting Dentistry

“…This intimacy and facility of use regarding SNSs tools may have an impact on professionalism on the Internet. [26][27][28][29] In order for health care faculty and students to avoid inappropriate online behavior, some US universities have created polices to guide behavior both on-and offline.…”

Capsule Commentary on Rocha et al., Opinions of Students from a Brazilian Medical School on Online Professionalism

“…4 Less than 15 % of the Brazilian students in this study report receiving any structured learning in this area. 1 While the potential consequences of online behaviour may seem intuitive, the fact that these students condemned violation of patient privacy, yet did not find the case vignette depicting the posting of pictures of pediatric patients inappropriate is telling of incongruent judgment in this area. That students judged certain online behaviours more unacceptable from faculty also indicates a potential lack of awareness of the 'permanent' and public nature of the online world and how inappropriate posts may impact a student's career long after they have left the classroom.…”

“…While users of online forums and networking sites may make the distinction between personal and professional posts, posts intended as 'personal' can have negative professional ramifications. Rocha et al 1 surveyed 350 Brazilian Medical Students on the frequency with which they had observed ten categorized unprofessional online behaviours. These ranged from 14 % (patient privacy) to 85 % (photos of alcohol consumption).…”