Presentation to uOttawa undergraduate medical education program

1. Professional use of social
media
Presentation to uOttawa Undergraduate Medical
Education Program
Sept. 5, 2018
uOttawa
Pat Rich @pat_Health #UOSM18

2. Lecture objectives
Discuss the potential of social networking tools such
as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ in
medical education.
Discuss the safe and professional behaviours
regarding social networking usage.

3. Disclosures
• Social media has
provided me and
continues to provide
me with income and
career advancement

4. Who I am
 Medical writer, editor and
social media commentator
 Experienced health care
communicator with a keen
interest and involvement in the
use of social media tools in
medicine and health care and
believers in the value of these
tools
 WHO I AM NOT
 Physician
 Academic (well, not really)

5. This Years Model

6. Last year’s message:
Huge benefits to using social media in your
medical career should you choose to do so
But downsides and significant risks

7. This Years Model – online, digital and
social

8. This year’s message
Huge benefits to using social media
in your academic medical career
should you choose to do so
Downsides and risks still there and
more polarization and intolerance

9. “
”
“To be a 21st century scholar
of impact you must contribute
to social media
Dr. Felix Ankel, professor of emergency medicine, University of
Minnesota, podcast, May, 2018

10. “
”
Today’s medical professionals must be
masters of different skills that are
related to using digital devices or
online solutions and mastering those
skills is now a crucial skill set that all
medical professionals require.
Dr. Bertalan Mesko

11. Being a digital doctor
 Shape an idea in under 400
words
 Share an idea in a few hundred
characters
 Put an idea on a short video clip
 Understand the limitations of
patient-specific dialogue on
public networks
 Manage input and consumption
of information
Dr. Bryan Vartabedian

12. Being a digital doctor
Maybe you won't becoming a
tweeting, blogging doctor. But, what
content will you publish in order to
establish a healthy digital presence
for yourself or your practice? …Will
you be prepared to help steer the
conversation back towards science
when celebrities hijack the
conversation with something
otherwise?
@thedocsmitty

13. The power of social media

14. The power of social media
“In my now nearly 40 years as an Ontario physician I have
never witnessed such passionate engagement with OMA
affairs or the political process. (It) was directly fuelled by the
use of social media and the enhanced connectivity between
different regions and specialties.”
Dr. Alan Drummond (@alandrummond2)
On debate around the 2016 OMA draft agreement

15. The power of social media

16. The power of social media (global)

17. Participate in meaningful progress
“Physicians of all ages are using social media, and many women are communicating
on virtual platforms to connect with each other and with supportive male colleagues.
The sheer number of women physicians participating and their robust engagement
suggest that they value these online connections.”
June 14,
2018
#metoomedicine #illooklikeasurgeon

18. Wield the lasso of truth

19. Why care?
“Whether physicians are active on social
media or not, an understanding of social
media and its potential implications on
their professional lives is essential.”
Dr. Hartley Stern, CEO, Canadian Medical
Protective Association

20. Social media and academic medicine
 Social media is a new space for
academic medicine that has enormous
possibilities for research, education,
clinical care, and dissemination of
health care science.
 Institutions are starting to recognize
social media scholarship as significant
and meritorious and to include it when
an academic is being considered for
promotion and tenure.
More Than Likes and Tweets: Creating
Social Media Portfolios for Academic
Promotion and Tenure: JGME, Aug. 2017

21. Social media and academic medicine

22. Social media and academic medicine
“Social media is a tool that the modern scholar and scientist should
have in their armamentarium”
* Being engaged in social media can assist you in your academic
work by cultivating mentors, raising awareness of your research and
scholarship, and facilitating scholarly collaborations.
* A prominent social media presence has the potential to
influence public opinion and could drive funding for research
and education or support policies consistent with scientific evidence.
Social Media and the 21st-Century Scholar: How You Can Harness
Social Media to Amplify Your Career, Journal of the American
College of Radiology, Jan. 2018, Teresa Chan MD et. Al.

23. Fun with Twitter (an educational tool)

24. Why consider using social media?
 To stay informed
 As a learning tool in medical education
 Communicate (engage) with peers and patients
 Disseminate information
 Advocate for/against something
 To help get a job
 To deliver clinical care
 Because if you decide not to use social media, your decision
should be based on sound knowledge about what you are
choosing not to use

25. The challenges
Impact on patients
Liability
Privacy
Ethics
Boundaries
Time theft
Reputation
Compensation

26. Who’s making the rules?
• College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Guidelines
• Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) Guide to
Medical Professionalism: Recommendations For Social Media
• Canadian Medical Association – Issues and Rules of Engagement
• Canadian Medical Protective Association

27. The rules summarized
Protect patient privacy and
confidentiality
Be professional

28. The rules in 12 words
“Don’t Lie, Don’t Pry
Don’t Cheat, Can’t
Delete. Don’t Steal.
Don’t Reveal”
Dr. Farris Timimi, medical director, Mayo
Clinic Center for Social Media, April 5, 2012

30. Twitter pros and cons
PROS
 Choose the community you chose to
follow
 Connect with peers and
internationally respected peer leaders
 Stay current with curated information
from medical journals
 Stay current with latest information
from medical conferences globally
 Engage with Twitter journal clubs
CONS
 Tunnel vision
 Risk of being trolled or spammed
 FOMO
 Risk of account being hacked if not
used
 Exposure to potentially toxic
environment

31. Some words of wisdom (Dr. Joshua
Tepper)

32. Downside of social media for medical
students

33. “Medical politics aren’t
for the faint of heart”
Former Ontario deputy health
minister Michael Decter quoted
by Theresa Boyle in The Toronto
Star, Feb. 27, 2017

34. Medical Twitter can be toxic
 “Twitter has proven tedious
and even toxic to what I
enjoy most. 140 characters
leaves little room for
nuance, little room for
substance, little room for
clarification, and little room
for courtesy, regret, or
forgiveness.”
@DrWarsh

35. More intolerance and polarization
Sept 2, 2018

36. Outcome of Ontario situation
 Canadian Medical Association hosted session on intra-
professionalism with focus on disrespectful activity on social
media – integrated into new draft Code of Ethics and
Professionalism
 Some physicians reported to the CPSO for inappropriate
behavior and disciplined for their comments
 Some physicians criticized OMA and other doctors for
reporting doctors to CPSO and have condemned OMA for
“muzzling free speech”

37. Case study 1: The political resident
Brandon is a resident who, since starting medical school, has kept a
blog about his views on medicine, medical education, and health care
politics. Recently, Brandon has blogged extensively about his extreme
political views regarding the upcoming election. His residency director
reads his blog and tells him that he must delete his posts and can no
longer write new ones, as he is not only a hospital employee and a
representative of the residency program, but also a professional who
must represent himself accordingly
American College of Medical Schools Digital Literacy Toolkit

38. Case 2: Looking up a patient on Google
Susan is a psychiatrist who is treating a patient who is unwilling
to reveal little or any personal information.
Susan believes a better understanding of the patient and his
individual circumstances would aid her in providing more better
treatment.
To do this, Susan decides to look the patient up on Google to
see what – if anything has been written about him.

39. Case 2: Variations
Is it OK for Susan to look up the patient:
 If she feared for the safety of the patient
 If she feared for her own safety
 If she worked in the ER
 If she thought her patient may be famous
“Do it if your conscience says there’s a good clinical reason for doing
so.”

40. Using social media in medical school –
some suggestions
 Facebook presence for classmates etc.
 LinkedIn account to:
Build network for future career
Follow discussion forums on medical education
 Blog about your experiences
 Instragram – Mobile-friendly image-based slices of life
 Twitter account to:
Develop your list of people, journals and other accounts to follow
Watch (and engage) medical Twitter community (e.g. #hcldr)

41. Canadian tweeters worth following

42. Canadian tweeters worth following

43. Canadian tweeters worth following

44. Select others to follow
@anetto – patient advocate
@couragesings – patient advocate
@nightshiftMD – Dr. Brian Goldman
@DrJoshuaTepper – CEO of Health Quality Ontario (soon to be CEO at NYGH)
@DocSchmadia – Dr. Nadia Alam – Current president OMA
@drcadesky – Current president Doctors of BC
@endocrine_witch Philippine endorcrinologist Dr. Iris Tan (#healthxph)
@shawn_whatley – Past OMA President, blogger

45. Final words of wisdom (Dr. Jalali)

46. Here endeth the lesson.
Thank you!
Questions?
Acknowledgement: Elvis Costello album covers used courtesy of Barney Bubbles