The Intersection of Online Social Networking with Medical Professionalism
Open accessAbstract
Aim To measure the frequency and content of online social networking among medical students and residents.Methods Using the online network Facebook, we evaluated online profiles of all medical students (n = 501) and residents (n = 312) at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Objective measures included the existence of a profile, whether it was made private, and any personally identifiable information. Subjective outcomes included photographic content, affiliated social groups, and personal information not generally disclosed in a doctor-patient encounter.Results Social networking with Facebook is common among medical trainees, with 44.5% having an account. Medical students used it frequently (64.3%) and residents less frequently (12.8%, p < .0001). The majority of accounts (83.3%) listed at least 1 form of personally identifiable information, only a third (37.5%) were made private, and some accounts displayed potentially unprofessional material. There was a significant decline in utilization of Facebook as trainees approached medical or residency graduation (first year as referent, years 3 and 4, p < .05).Discussion While social networking in medical trainees is common in the current culture of emerging professionals, a majority of users allow anyone to view their profile. With a significant proportion having subjectively inappropriate content, ACGME competencies in professionalism must include instruction on the intersection of personal and professional identities.
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There are still no agreements on what constitutes professional Internet behavior, except for the most horrific mistakes in professional unethical and illegal activities.
“In addition, there are still no agreements on what constitutes professional Internet behavior, except for the most horrific mistakes in professional unethical and illegal activities [49].”
From Social Media Role and Its Impact on Public Health: A Narrative Review (2023) · cites this paper as [49]
The Introduction (page not specified) says professional accountability is difficult to define or measure and that Internet communication blurs the boundary between professional and personal life. That supports uncertainty about online professionalism, but the paper does not establish that there are no agreements on professional Internet behavior or that agreement exists only for egregious unethical or illegal acts. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredProfile comments were modeled after actual status updates from previous studies to authentically portray workday comments.
“Profile comments (ie, status updates) were modeled after actual status updates from previous studies of health professionals’ personal use of Facebook to authentically portray workday comments as they may be encountered online [18,20-22].”
From Effects of Mock Facebook Workday Comments on Public Perception of Professional Credibility: A Field Study in Canada (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
The Methods and Description of Facebook Users sections show that this is a previous study of medical trainees’ personal Facebook profiles. But the Methods describe collecting profile details and examining content, not collecting status updates or workday comments; the paper therefore does not establish that its material could have been used to model those comments. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe majority of learners in both groups (62.1% of students and 67.5% of residents) kept their Facebook accounts public because they did not change default privacy settings.
“The majority of learners in both groups, 62.1% of students and 67.5% of residents, kept their Facebook accounts”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
The Description of Facebook Users reports that 62.1% of students and 67.5% of residents with Facebook accounts kept them public. The Methods say users could designate accounts private or public, but the paper does not establish that the public accounts resulted from users leaving default privacy settings unchanged. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured70% of examined profiles had photographs depicting alcohol consumption, with 10-50% implying excess drinking.
“Examination of the content revealed that 70% had photographs depicting alcohol consumption (10-50% implying excess drinking)”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
Three profiles contained unprofessional content including excessive drinking, overt sexuality, foul language, and patient privacy violations that occurred outside of the United States.
“three profiles contained unprofessional content including excessive drinking, overt sexuality, foul language, and patient privacy violations that occurred outside of the United States.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
More medical students than residents had a Facebook account (64.3% vs. 12.8%, p < .0001).
“More medical students than residents had a Facebook account (64.3% vs. 12.8%, p < .0001).”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
Given the proliferation of social media, the Thompson et al. data underestimate the scope and magnitude of current social media use by learners in medical education.
“Given the proliferation of social media, the Thompson et al. 14 data underestimate the scope and magnitude of current social media use by learners in medical education.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
For both medical students and residents, Facebook use declined as graduation approached.
“For both medical students and residents, there was a gradient of Facebook use, with use declining as graduation approached.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
Nearly 45% of medical students and residents had a Facebook account.
“Thompson et al. 14 reported that nearly 45% of its medical students and residents had a Facebook account.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
Thompson et al. describe that 44.5% of medical students and resident physicians at a single public medical school and its affiliated hospital use OSNs.
“Thompson et al. describe that 44.5% of medical students and resident physicians at a single public medical school and its affiliated hospital use OSNs.13”
From The Patient–Doctor Relationship and Online Social Networks: Results of a National Survey (2011) · cites this paper as [13]
Workday comments are common on Facebook.
“whereas, workday comments are common on Facebook [12,18-20,22].”
From Effects of Mock Facebook Workday Comments on Public Perception of Professional Credibility: A Field Study in Canada (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
The Qualitative Analysis section gives isolated examples of Facebook group content, including a comment about a lecture, but does not say that workday comments are common. The Methods and Description of Facebook Users sections describe what was assessed and report Facebook use, not the frequency of workday comments (searched: “workday comments” and comments about work). No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe simulated screenshots reflected real content posted by medical students, including heavy drinking, sexual content, swearing, and breaches of patient privacy.
“Although our study included simulated screenshots (Fig. S1), the content mirrored actual content found posted by medical students, such as excess alcohol use, overt sexuality, profanity and patient privacy violations, as also found by Thompson and colleagues.14”
From What is appropriate to post on social media? <scp>R</scp> atings from students, faculty members and the public (2014) · cites this paper as [14]
Thompson and colleagues reported that 70% of medical student profiles included alcohol-related photographs, and 10-50% of photographs suggested excessive drinking.
“Thompson and colleagues 14 found that 70% of medical students' profiles had photographs with alcohol, with a frequency of 10-50% of photographs that implied excess drinking.”
From What is appropriate to post on social media? <scp>R</scp> atings from students, faculty members and the public (2014) · cites this paper as [14]
Academic writing frequently warns that social media dangerously crosses traditional medical boundaries.
“the academic literature replete with admonishments of how SM are dangerously breeching the old “boundary markers” of medicine: enabling all manner of distasteful content to be publically posted by medical students, residents, and other healthcare providers,7,14–17”
From Dangers and Opportunities for Social Media in Medicine (2013) · cites this paper as [14]
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Blurring boundaries and online opportunities
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Social Media Etiquette for the Modern Medical Student:A Narrative Review
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- Authors
- Thompson, L. A., Dawson, K., Ferdig, R., Black, E. W., Boyer, J., Coutts, J., & Black, N. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- Corresponding author
- Thompson, Lindsay A.
- Venue
- Journal of General Internal Medicine
- Published
- 2008-07
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 954-957
- ISSN
- 0884-8734 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-1497
- PMC
- PMC2517936
- OpenAlex
- W1969882537
- Semantic Scholar
- f57d245526f7f52ed58f76d64cf7f76392746b81
- Cited by
- 425
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 42
- FWCI
- 33.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of General Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Florida
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- online social networking, Facebook, medical professionalism, medical students, medical residents, privacy settings, personally identifiable information, physician confidentiality, ACGME core competencies, personal and professional identity
- MeSH terms
- Behavior, Female, Humans, Internship and Residency, Male, Social Support, Students, Medical, Internet
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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