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Abstract Title | To Tweet or not to Tweet - students' perceptions of new teaching on digital professionalism

Authors

Bernadette John
Dr Maria Elliott

Theme

Social Networking

INSTITUTION

Conclusion

Evidence demonstrates that medical students value guidance regarding the appropriate use and potential pitfalls of interacting via social media.

Background

Social media has introduced a new layer of accountability for those practising medicine today. It is evident that there are additional challenges for clinicians resulting from the confusion regarding the extent to which information is private, the ease with which information can be broadcast, the informality of social networking making it easy to fall foul of defamation laws, and the blurring of lines between their private and professional lives.

It has been documented that ill judged online actions have caused some learners to fail to secure or retain employment, or access a program of study (Ellaway and Tworek 2011).

A lecture on Digital Professionalism was included in a symposium on Professionalism, encouraging students to reflect on the potential ramifications of a poor digital footprint and develop an appropriate digital voice. Issues such as personal privacy and professionalism for the digital age were explored in an effort to support students to responsibly converge their professional and private personas for this new age.

Digital Definitions

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Summary of Work

A group of Year 1 students (n = 440) were invited to attend a Symposium on Professionalism.

Presentations were delivered by a panel of 9 invited speakers on a wide range of important topics including Digital Professionalism, Organisational and Study Skills, the role of the Medical Defence Union, GMC, Medical Ethics and Law and Communication Skills.

The lecture was followed by small group work on ethically and professionally challenging scenarios, with a clinician as a facilitator. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire, seeking their feedback on which of the presentations from the panel of nine speakers was most relevant to them.

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Take-home Messages

Professional and personal communications are converging in this new digital age. Despite Millenials having different attitudes, expectations and skills than older generations (Qualman 2011), medical students are keen to access guidance in order to ensure that they create appropriate content and conversation, that will impact positively on their careers.

This was reflected in the students' free text comments in the evaluation:

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge the kind support and encouragement of Dr Anne Stephenson, Dr Helen Graham and Prof Janice Rymer.

Summary of Results

96 students replied. 65% of those who responded commented that presentation on social media was most useful to them.

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References

Ellaway R, Tworek, J (2011). GIR Member Viewpoint – July 2011. Digital Professionalism. [online] Available at: www.aamc.org/members/gir/253674/viewpoint_july_11.html [Accessed 07 March 2012]

Qualman E (2011), 2nd Ed. Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. London.

Background

Strategies to be employed at King's College London Medical School from September 2012 include;

A presentation on Digital Professionalism as part of a Symposium on Professionalism run for Years 1, 3 and 5 - a component of the new Professionalism Strand
Annual compulsory Log Book sign-up on completion of a short two and a half hour Digital Professionalism eLearning course, covering a range of issues under the headings: Personal Safety and Professionalism
An annual lecture for each year group, outlining the use of social media as a vehicle to illustrate strengths and enhance employability - including the effective use of commercial platforms such as Linkedin
The launch of a UK hosted, institutional, internal social networking platform - Kinship - a space for students to establish an appropriate digital voice, collaborate and communicate
The launch of a competition across the university where students will be invited to create media (podcasts, photographs etc) illustrating their insight into the issues around the use of social media by professionals

In response to student feedback we intend to explore the potential for an SSC on Digital Professionalism and an annual debate of the issues around freedom of speech and the use of social media

Summary of Results

A total of 440 students were invited to attend the lecture. Approximately 50 percent attended. Of those who attended, 96 replied. In response to the question - "Which presentation did you find most useful and why", free text comments included;

"Social media, made me stop and think - this subject is very close to home"

"Social media, most relevant to us right now"

"The one regarding responsible social networking use, because it went to show how you have to careful what you publish as it can lead to more serious consequences"

"Social Media, more of a reminder and encouragement to change privacy settings/how I use it"

"Virtual Professionalism - one of the things many people don't think about before they post"

"The reminder of how visible we are and how the internet makes all of our actions permanently retrievable"

Authors

Theme

Category

INSTITUTION