This talk was given at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine on October 27, 2011, as part of the UNC Academy of Educators Lecture Series. #uncaoe

1. Social Media in Medical Education:
Embracing a New Medium
Ryan D. Madanick, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing
Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
UNC School of Medicine
Twitter: @RyanMadanickMD
Blog: Gut Check (ryanmadanickmd.wordpress.com)
#uncaoe

2. Learning Objectives
The information presented at this educational activity
should improve your ability to:
1. Explain how social media is currently being
employed for medical education
2. Describe risks, limitations, and opportunities
with regard to the use social media in
medicine and medical education
3. Incorporate social media into teaching
medicine and the competencies
#uncaoe

3. What is (are) Social Media?
You may have heard of some of these:
• MySpace
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Sermo
• Various blog sites
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4. #uncaoe

5. What are the Risks of Being involved in
Social Media?
• Patients “friend” or “follow” you
• HIPAA violations
• Professionalism issues
• Time issues
#uncaoe

6. “Twitter is a big cocktail party that you are
dropping in on from time to time to listen
to what people are saying and join in.”
-- Vineet Arora (@FutureDocs)
Top Twitter Myths & Tips, FutureDocs Blog
http://futuredocsblog.com/top-twitter-myths-tips/ #uncaoe

7. Why Should Medical Educators Care
About Social Media?
• Our students/learners are already there
– Whether or not you like it
– We need to educate about it
• Our patients/the public
#uncaoe

8. How Can Social Media Be Used to
Advance a Medical Academic Career?
http://futuredocsblog.com/2011/05/02/twitter-to-tenure-7-
ways-social-media-advances-my-career/ #uncaoe

9. How Can Social Media Be Used to
Advance a Medical Academic Career?
• Media interviews
• Workshop presentations
• Acquisition of new skills
• Lecture invitations
• Committee invitations
• Grant opportunities
• Dissemination
http://futuredocsblog.com/2011/05/02/twitter-to-tenure-7-
ways-social-media-advances-my-career/ #uncaoe

10. Competency 1:
Medical
Knowledge
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11. #uncaoe

12. The Blog as a Teaching Tool
http://casesblog.blogspot.com/ #uncaoe

13. Competency 2:
Patient Care
#uncaoe

14. Slide courtesy of Dr. Ves Dimov: AllergyCases.org/@DrVes

15. The e-Patient Revolution
“Participatory Medicine is a movement in which networked
patients shift from being mere passengers to responsible
drivers of their health, and in which providers encourage
and value them as full partners.”
http://e-patients.net/
http://participatorymedicine.org/ #uncaoe

16. e-Patient Dave
#uncaoe

17. Competency 3:
Interpersonal and
Communication
Skills
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18. Blogging (and Micro-blogging)
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19. Networking
Some leaders in the #SMIME arena
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20. Blogging
http://tworabbits-
medicaleducation.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-third-day-at- #uncaoe

21. Competency 4:
Professionalism
#uncaoe

22. #HCSMGATE: A Lesson about
Professionalism
@Doctor_V
http://33charts.com/2011/05/unprofessional-physician-behavior-twitter.html #uncaoe

23. Physicians on Twitter: A Study in
Professionalism
• Identified 260 docs on Twitter*
– With at least 500 followers
– Analyzed last 20 tweets
– Total 5156 tweets analyzed
• 148 (3%) considered “unprofessional”
– Potential pt privacy violations: 38 (0.7%)
• 27 users (10%), 25 were identifiable
– Profanity: 33 (0.6%)
– Sexually explicit: 14 (0.3%) *Doctors identified
between in May 2010
Chretien KC et al. JAMA 2011;305: 566. #uncaoe

24. “…social networks may be considered the new
millennium’s elevator: a public forum where
you have little to no control over who hears
what you say, even if the material is not
intended for the public.”
Mostaghimi A, Crotty BH. Ann Int Med 2011;154: 560. #uncaoe

25. Our Students Future Employers May
Be Watching
http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-law-schools-students-2011-10 #uncaoe

26. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
a. Physicians should be cognizant of standards
of patient privacy and confidentiality that
must be maintained in all environments,
including online, and must refrain from
posting identifiable patient information
online.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

27. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
b. When using the Internet for social networking,
physicians should use privacy settings to
safeguard personal information and content to
the extent possible, but should realize that
privacy settings are not absolute and that once
on the Internet, content is likely there
permanently. Thus, physicians should routinely
monitor their own Internet presence to ensure
that the personal and professional information
on their own sites and, to the extent possible,
content posted about them by others, is
accurate and appropriate.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

28. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
c. If they interact with patients on the Internet,
physicians must maintain appropriate
boundaries of the patient-physician
relationship in accordance with professional
ethical guidelines just, as they would in any
other context.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

29. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
d. To maintain appropriate professional boundaries
physicians should consider separating personal
and professional content online.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

30. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
e. When physicians see content posted by
colleagues that appears unprofessional they
have a responsibility to bring that content to the
attention of the individual, so that he or she can
remove it and/or take other appropriate actions.
If the behavior significantly violates professional
norms and the individual does not take
appropriate action to resolve the situation, the
physician should report the matter to
appropriate authorities.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

31. AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use
of Social Media
f. Physicians must recognize that actions online
and content posted may negatively affect
their reputations among patients and
colleagues, may have consequences for their
medical careers (particularly for physicians-
in-training and medical students), and can
undermine public trust in the medical
profession.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-
media.shtml #uncaoe

32. Competency 5:
Practice-Based
Learning &
Improvement
#uncaoe

33. “Instant” Feedback from Experts
#uncaoe

34. Slide courtesy of Dr. Ves Dimov: AllergyCases.org/@DrVes

35. Cycle of Online
Information and Cycle of
Physician Patient
Education Education
Image source: https://www.iot-at-work.eu/downloads_press-related.html
Slide courtesy of Dr. Ves Dimov: AllergyCases.org/@DrVes

36. Competency 6:
Systems-Based
Practice
#uncaoe

37. Systems-Based Practice
• Teamworking
– Nurses, Pharmacists
– Patients
• New technologies to advance care/education
#uncaoe

38. Lessons from Being at the Crossroads
of Healthcare and Social Media
1. Getting involved in Social Media means
starting small
2. It is easy to feel overwhelmed in Social Media
3. “If you post it, they will come”
4. Both the compliments and the criticisms
come more quickly
http://ryanmadanickmd.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/lessons-from-my-first-six-months-at-the-
crossroads-of-healthcare-and-social-media/ #uncaoe

39. Lessons from Being at the Crossroads
of Healthcare and Social Media
5. Venturing into Social Media is great way to
communicate with a broad audience
6. Don’t enter Social Media expecting to
become wildly successful
7. The proliferation of Social Media is not a
passing fad
8. Getting involved in Social Media is not for
everyone
http://ryanmadanickmd.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/lessons-from-my-first-six-months-at-the-
crossroads-of-healthcare-and-social-media/ #uncaoe

41. Final Thoughts…
With Social Media, medical educators have
OPPORTUNITIES and RESPONSIBILITIES
• For ourselves
• For our patients
• For our learners
• And for the public
#uncaoe

42. Social Media in Medical Education:
Embracing a New Medium
Ryan D. Madanick, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing
Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
UNC School of Medicine
Twitter: @RyanMadanickMD
Blog: Gut Check (ryanmadanickmd.wordpress.com)
#uncaoe