The Scholarly Merit of Social Media Use Among Clinical Faculty

Abstract

Background: Social media (SoMe) platforms such as blogs, Twitter, and Facebook are increasingly becoming incorporated into education and scientific communities. In fields such as emergency medicine, clinicians have established communication channels through SoMe to engage in academic and clinical discussions for the purposes of professional growth. While the use of SoMe as an educational tool within the classroom has been previously described, its use as a professional tool has not been adequately investigated. Objective: To assess the perception of SoMe as an academic tool among deans of accredited health care professional schools in the United States. Methods: An electronic cross-sectional survey was distributed to deans of accredited medical, nursing, and pharmacy schools across the United States to assess the knowledge of SoMe, attitudes toward academic merit, and challenges to incorporating SoMe into scholarly activity. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 188 responses (response rate = 22%), 162 (86%) agreed publication in a peer-reviewed journal ranked highest in academic merit, followed by publishing in medical Web sites (157, 84%), publication in a university-based newsletter (147, 78%), and personal medical education blog (150, 80%). Fifty-one (31%) of respondents stated that volume of viewership would improve academic merit, while 85 (52%) believed a peer-review process would improve academic merit. Conclusion: Although professional SoMe activities should not replace traditional publications, the result of this study suggest establishing a peer-review process to improve validity of such activities.

The evaluation of scholarship in academic promotion and tenure processes: Past, present, and future

“…One example of scholarly social media being considered in RPT evaluation is that of the Mayo Clinic – starting in early 2016, digital portfolios were allowed in evaluations for promotion ( Cabrera et al ., 2017). Cocchio & Awad (2014) reported that across medical, nursing, and pharmacy programs, deans have varying views regarding the value of social media in the evaluation of scholarly activity. 31% of these deans were of the opinion that high viewership of scholarly works increased academic merit, and 52% thought peer review of materials published online would also add value.…”

Qu’est-ce qui motive les décisions liées aux médias sociaux des étudiants et des étudiantes en soins infirmiers dans leurs pratiques d’apprentissage? Une étude menée dans une École de soins infirmiers de l’Ontario

“…The nursing education literature demonstrates social media's potential as a teaching and learning tool, although much of the focus has been on social media's use by nursing faculty for teaching at the undergraduate level. Teaching through social media may include the creation and publication of blog posts or sharing relevant clinical pearls through YouTube or Twitter, as well as podcasts discussing and debating the most recent literature and evidence-based practice (Cocchio & Awad, 2014). Several studies reported using social media to teach nursing students about online professionalism (Barnable et al, 2018;Englund et al, 2012;Green et al, 2014;Marnocha et al, 2017).…”

“…Social media can provide students and educators with opportunities to connect with international peers and colleagues and engage in knowledge mobilization (Choo et al, 2014). Such knowledge mobilization activities may include live tweeting at conferences to reach audiences beyond those present in the venue (Cocchio & Awad, 2014).…”