The relationship between Facebook behaviour and e‐professionalism: A questionnaire‐based cross‐sectional study among Greek dental students

Studies found high social media use among students, ranging from 66.9% to 98.7%.

“Studies that assessed SM use among different types of HCPs found high use among students, from 66.9% to 98.7% [40,43,50,51,60,61,64-66,68-70,102]”

Only 4 studies explicitly stated the percentage of students who had set their Facebook account on private: 37% of pharmacy students, 83.6% and 91% of dental students, and 71% of medical students.

“Only 4 studies explicitly stated the percentage of students who had set their Facebook account on private: 37% of pharmacy students [40], 83.6% and 91% of dental students [64,65], and 71% of medical students [42].”

Loosening accountability is a danger to e-professionalism from two points of view: eroding public trust by providing poor quality of information on social media and damaging the professional image.

“According to some studies in this review, loosening accountability can be seen as a danger to e-professionalism from two points of view: eroding public trust by providing poor quality of information on SM [39,106,117] and damaging to the professional image [43, 45, 51, 56, 57, 59, 64, 66, 68, 70, 73, 102, 106, 112].”

Numerous studies document blurred boundaries between patients and health care professionals, and between students and faculty.

“Numerous studies document blurred boundaries between patient and HCPs, and between students and faculty [40, 43, 47, 59, 64, 65, 68, 70, 73, 75, 78, 82, 85, 98, 100, 105, 107, 114, 117].”

5.5% of dental students had published smoking.

“Alcohol consumption and smoking were published by 19.1% and 5.5% of responders, respectively, while 0.4% of responders admitted having posted photographs of themselves using illegal drugs [64].”

71.7% of dental students had posted pictures from holidays.

“A total of 71.7% of students had posted pictures from holidays, 41.5% moments in nightclubs, and 26.2% photographs wearing swimwear or underwear.”

26.2% of dental students had posted photographs wearing swimwear or underwear.

“A total of 71.7% of students had posted pictures from holidays, 41.5% moments in nightclubs, and 26.2% photographs wearing swimwear or underwear.”

In Karveleas et al's study, a significantly higher percentage of fifth-year dental students (48.3%) compared to fourth-year students (20.6%; P<.001) had received a Facebook friend request from one or more patients.

“Karveleas et al’s [64] study showed a significantly higher percentage of fifth-year dental students (48.3%) compared to fourth-year students (20.6%; P<.001) who had received a Facebook friend request from one or more patients [64].”

In Karveleas et al's study among dental students, unprofessional content had been posted by most students.

“In another study among dental students by Karveleas et al [64], unprofessional content had been posted by most students.”

0.4% of dental students admitted having posted photographs of themselves using illegal drugs.

“Alcohol consumption and smoking were published by 19.1% and 5.5% of responders, respectively, while 0.4% of responders admitted having posted photographs of themselves using illegal drugs [64].”

19.1% of dental students had published alcohol consumption.

“Alcohol consumption and smoking were published by 19.1% and 5.5% of responders, respectively, while 0.4% of responders admitted having posted photographs of themselves using illegal drugs [64].”

41.5% of dental students had posted moments in nightclubs.

“A total of 71.7% of students had posted pictures from holidays, 41.5% moments in nightclubs, and 26.2% photographs wearing swimwear or underwear.”

Unprofessional behavior on social media of health care professionals can have legal consequences, potentially affecting credibility and licensure.

“Unprofessional behavior on SM of HCPs can have legal consequences, potentially affecting credibility and licensure.”

In a recent study among Greek dental students, 75.3% of responders admitted not being aware whether the behavior of dentists on social media could result in legal sanctions.

“In a recent study among Greek dental students, 75.3% of responders admitted not being aware whether the behavior of dentists on SM could result in legal sanctions [64].”

Even if institutions have social media policies or guidelines, health care professionals acknowledged reluctant behavior regarding existing social media policies or ignorance of their existence.

“Contrary to that finding, even if institutions have SM policies or guidelines, HCPs acknowledged reluctant behavior regarding existing SM policies [78,85,114] or ignorance to their existence [61,64,65,100].”

Loosening accountability is a danger to e-professionalism from two points of view: eroding public trust by providing poor quality information on social media and damage to professional image.

“According to some studies in this review, loosening accountability can be seen as a danger on e-professionalism from two points of view, eroding public trust by providing poor quality of information on SM [39,106,117] and damage to professional image [43, 45, 51, 56, 57, 59, 64, 66, 68, 70, 73, 102, 106, 112].”

Boundaries are blurred between patients and health care professionals, and between students and faculty.

“Boundaries are blurred between patients and HCPs, and between students and faculty [40, 43, 47, 59, 64, 65, 68, 70, 73, 75, 78, 82, 85, 98, 100, 105, 107, 114, 117].”

Surveys that captured students' self-report of posted unprofessional behavior reported witnessing the investigated examples with varying frequencies.

“Surveys that captured students’ self-report of posted unprofessional behavior (eg, evidence of being intoxicated, illegal drug use, posting patient information, sharing clinical images inappropriately, and depictions of an illegal act) reported witnessing the investigated examples with varying frequencies [32,42,43,55,59,62,64,73,114,118].”

Karveleas et al's study among dental students showed that students' perceptions of and attitudes toward e-professionalism are complicated and contradictory.

“Karveleas et al’s [64] study among dental students showed that students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward e-professionalism is complicated and contradictory.”

In Karveleas et al's study, posting holiday pictures or wearing swimwear was categorized as unprofessional.

“In their study, posting holiday pictures or wearing swimwear was categorized as unprofessional.”

Even if institutions have social media policies or guidelines, health care professionals acknowledged reluctant behavior regarding existing social media policies or ignorance to their existence.

“Our results show that even though a lack of SM policies was recognized as a barrier, even if institutions have SM policies or guidelines, HCPs acknowledged reluctant behavior regarding existing SM policies [78,85,114] or ignorance to their existence [61,64,65,100].”