Social media policies at US medical schools

Abstract

Background/PurposeToday's medical students are learning in a social media era in which patient confidentiality is at risk yet schools’ social media policies have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study is to describe the presence of medical schools on top social media sites and to identify whether student policies for these schools explicitly address social media use.MethodWebsites of all 132 accredited US medical schools were independently assessed by two investigators for their presence (as of March 31, 2010) on the most common social networking and microblogging sites (Facebook and Twitter) and their publicly available policies addressing online social networking. Key features from these policies are described.Results100% (n=132) of US medical schools had websites and 95.45% (126/132) had any Facebook presence. 25.76% (34/132) had official medical school pages, 71.21% (94/132) had student groups, and 54.55% (72/132) had alumni groups on Facebook. 10.6% of medical schools (14/132) had Twitter accounts. 128 of 132 medical schools (96.97%) had student guidelines or policies publicly available online. 13 of these 128 schools (10.16%) had guidelines/policies explicitly mentioning social media. 38.46% (5/13) of these guidelines included statements that defined what is forbidden, inappropriate, or impermissible under any circumstances, or mentioned strongly discouraged online behaviors. 53.85% (7/13) encouraged thoughtful and responsible social media use.ConclusionsMedical schools and their students are using social media. Almost all US medical schools have a Facebook presence, yet most do not have policies addressing student online social networking behavior. While social media use rises, policy informing appropriate conduct in medical schools lags behind. Established policies at some medical schools can provide a blueprint for others to adopt and adapt.

Smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds: Prevalence, patterns and potential for distraction

“…The development of such policies are important for patient safety; at the same time, they are in line with medical institutions' increasing awareness about the need for guidelines regarding other aspects of ''digital professionalism.'' 28 In February 2012, our hospital instituted a policy regarding appropriate device use during inpatient attending rounds (see Supporting Appendix 3 in the online version of this article). Because our research found differences in housestaff and faculty attitudes toward smartphone use during rounds, we developed our policy after discussion with, and feedback from, all members of the inpatient team, including faculty, residents, and medical students.…”

Using Facebook to Facilitate Course-Related Discussion Between Students and Faculty Members

“…2,[4][5][6][7] While there are no standard guidelines for health professions faculty members that detail whether or how best to interact with students on social media Web sites, some institutions have developed or are considering implementation of policies about social media use. 8 Others have raised concerns that use of Facebook within a course could increase student and faculty workload as Facebook does not replace other course management software (eg, Blackboard Learning System and WebCT, Blackboard Inc, Washington, DC). [9][10][11] Several published studies have described specific courses or educational strategies using the Facebook platform; however, we found only 2 that involved pharmacy students.…”

Physicians, Social Media, and Conflict of Interest

“…5 Recognizing this, as well as empirical research documenting physician 18 and medical student 19,20 misbehavior online, national organizations in the United States, [21][22][23] Canada, 24 United Kingdom, 25,26 and Australia and New Zealand 27 have issued guidelines on professionalism and social media. Professionalism and social media has also attracted attention from various scholars 17,[28][29][30][31] and medical schools 32 hoping to realize social media's benefits while minimizing inherent ethical risks. Current guidelines, however, fail to address adequately the risk conflicts of interest present for physician use of social media.…”