Medical student views on the use of Facebook profile screening by residency admissions committees
Abstract
Purpose: Previous research has shown that >50% of residency programmes indicate that inappropriate Facebook postings could be grounds for rejecting a student applicant. This study sought to understand medical students’ views regarding the impact of their Facebook postings on the residency admissions process. Study design: In 2011–2012, we conducted a national survey of 7144 randomly selected medical students representing 10% of current enrollees in US medical schools. Students were presented with a hypothetical scenario of a residency admissions committee searching Facebook and finding inappropriate pictures of a student, and were asked how the committee ought to regard these pictures. Results: The response rate was 30% (2109/7144). Respondents did not differ from medical students nationally with regard to type of medical school and regional representation. Of the three options provided, the majority of respondents (63.5%) indicated ‘the pictures should be considered along with other factors, but should not be grounds for automatic rejection of the application’. A third (33.7%) believed ‘the pictures should have no bearing on my application; the pictures are irrelevant’. A small minority of respondents (2.8%) felt ‘the pictures should be grounds for automatic rejection of the application’. Conclusions: That the views of students regarding the consequences of their online activity differ so greatly from the views of residency admissions committees speaks to the need for better communication between these parties. It also presents opportunities for medical schools to help students in their residency application process by increasing awareness of social media screening strategies used by some residency programmes, and fostering self-awareness around the use of social media during medical school and especially during the residency application process.
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The inconsistency between attitudes and actions regarding professionalism lapses on social media has been observed also elsewhere.
“This inconsistency between attitudes and actions has been observed also elsewhere [145,146].”
From Dangers and Benefits of Social Media on E-Professionalism of Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review (2021) · cites this paper as [145]
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Self-citationInfluence of social networking websites on medical school and residency selection process
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“This inconsistency between attitudes and actions has been observed also elsewhere [145,146].”
Are We Witnessing a Paradigm Shift?: A Systematic Review of Social Media in Residency
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- Authors
- George, D. R., Green, M. J., Navarro, A. M., Stazyk, K. K., & Clark, M. A.
- Affiliations
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Association of American Medical Colleges (US)
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Green, Michael J
- Venue
- Postgraduate Medical Journal
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-02-27
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 1063
- Pages
- 251-253
- ISSN
- 0032-5473 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-0756
- OpenAlex
- W2000774836
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 1.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Postgraduate Medical Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Keywords
- Facebook, social media screening, residency admissions, medical students, online privacy, applicant rejection, social media awareness, student perceptions
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Computers, Female, Humans, Internship and Residency, Male, Personnel Selection, Surveys and Questionnaires, School Admission Criteria, Schools, Medical, Self Disclosure, Students, Medical, Professional Role, Young Adult, Search Engine, Social Networking
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