Social Networking in Medicine: The VIIth Nerve Facebook Page

Abstract

In today's technological society, the implications of social media in the learning environment may be of significant value and affect the future practice of medicine; however, synergies between social networks and medicine are underrepresented in the social media and medical literature. Today's society has seen a revolution in technology and a rise in the popularity of social network platforms, including Facebook. Facebook was created in 2004 and is now the largest social media network worldwide.1 Facebook has a network of 750 million users.2 Social media is a valuable tool in connecting individuals worldwide while enabling unprecedented speed and scope of communication and information sharing. Social networking sites are popular online communication forums that allow individuals to engage with others over the Internet.3 A recent study of university students found that 25 % of students used Facebook for educational purposes and 66 % were open to its use for this purpose. 4 There is much interest in social media despite the term being poorly defined. 5Blogs, social networking sites, mobile apps, podcasts and online magazines all fall into the category of social media. A study by Cain & Policastri, chose Facebook as the medium to introduce social media as an informal learning strategy because it was a simple means to share information, discussions could easily be followed and it was a feasible method to connect students with peers and experts. Today's new generation of clinicians appear keen to adopt social media. As they enter their medical careers, social media has the potential to have a strong impact on medicine. A number of studies in the literature have investigated the use of mobile devices in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. 4,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In a US study of cell phone use in medical students, 94 % of third-year medical students at a Midwestern University AbstractBackground: Social networks including Facebook are gaining popularity in industry, however, health care has yet to fully embrace this trend. Social networking enables unprecedented speed and scope of communication and information sharing; mobile devices allow health professionals to feel connected to training hospitals, peers and mentors. The VIIth Nerve is a Facebook page for medical students worldwide, providing a platform to share medical cases, educational videos and audio sounds.