Survey of medical students’ use of social media
Abstract
Summary: Background: Medical students are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the dangers of online social media, and education about how to use it responsibly may be beneficial. Methods: We conducted an online questionnaire to assess whether or not medical students in years 2–6 of study at the University of Oxford would intuitively know what doctors should and should not do on social media. We also assessed whether the study intervention of sending out guidance about appropriate use of social media published by the UK General Medical Council ( GMC ) would improve students’ knowledge of how to use social media correctly. Results: We found that, although social media use was widespread among medical students, the majority were unaware of GMC guidance on this issue. Administration of GMC guidance significantly improved the proportion of GMC ‐correct responses in four of 16 questionnaire items. Medical students are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the dangers of online social media Discussion: It is possible that educating medical students about the dangers of online social media, and how to use it appropriately, could be worthwhile.
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The questionnaire was developed after a thorough literature review, reviewed, and piloted.
“We developed the questionnaire after a thorough literature review [10–12, 21, 22, 27–31]. We then carefully reviewed the questions and decided on answers that represent more ethical consensus [11, 22, 27, 28]. Lastly, we revised and piloted the final draft of the questionnaire.”
From Future healthcare providers and professionalism on social media: a cross-sectional study (2022) · cites this paper as [21]
Some studies on healthcare students, mostly in Western and Westernized countries, showed the importance of implementing guidelines on professional social media use, but a limited number of studies targeted all categories of healthcare students.
“Some studies on healthcare students [21, 22], the majority of which done in Western and Westernized countries, showed the importance of implementing guidelines on the professional use of social media, but a limited number of studies [23–25] targeted all categories of healthcare students.”
From Future healthcare providers and professionalism on social media: a cross-sectional study (2022) · cites this paper as [21]
Numerous studies emphasized the importance of structured education and the implementation of guidelines on the professional usage of social media among healthcare students and professionals.
“This finding is also supported by numerous studies [5, 8, 10, 21, 22, 33–38] which emphasized the importance of structured education and the implementation of guidelines on the professional usage of social media among healthcare students and professionals.”
From Future healthcare providers and professionalism on social media: a cross-sectional study (2022) · cites this paper as [21]
At Oxford University, when students received education on professional social media guidelines, their awareness remarkably improved and their compliance with the guidelines enhanced.
“at Oxford University, when students, regardless of their year of study, received education on professional social media guidelines, their awareness remarkably improved and their compliance with the guidelines enhanced [21].”
From Future healthcare providers and professionalism on social media: a cross-sectional study (2022) · cites this paper as [21]
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Social media in undergraduate medical education: A systematic review
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Survey of medical students' use of social media
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- Authors
- Kang, J., Djafari Marbini, H., Patel, P., Fawcett, N., & Leaver, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust Oxford UK
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kang, James
- Venue
- The Clinical Teacher
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-06-14
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 373-377
- ISSN
- 1743-4971 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-498X
- OpenAlex
- W1581315826
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Clinical Teacher (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Green Templeton College, Oxford
- MedicineAfrica
- 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
- social media use, medical students, General Medical Council guidance, medical education, responsible social media use
- MeSH terms
- Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Students, Medical, Guidelines as Topic, Social Media
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