The DOI matches its Crossref record; 16 of the 16 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Social media policies at US medical schools
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Today's medical students are learning in a social media era in which patient confidentiality is at risk yet schools' social media policies have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study is to describe the presence of medical schools on top social media sites and to identify whether student policies for these schools explicitly address social media use. METHOD: Websites of all 132 accredited US medical schools were independently assessed by two investigators for their presence (as of March 31, 2010) on the most common social networking and microblogging sites (Facebook and Twitter) and their publicly available policies addressing online social networking. Key features from these policies are described. RESULTS: 100% (n=132) of US medical schools had websites and 95.45% (126/132) had any Facebook presence. 25.76% (34/132) had official medical school pages, 71.21% (94/132) had student groups, and 54.55% (72/132) had alumni groups on Facebook. 10.6% of medical schools (14/132) had Twitter accounts. 128 of 132 medical schools (96.97%) had student guidelines or policies publicly available online. 13 of these 128 schools (10.16%) had guidelines/policies explicitly mentioning social media. 38.46% (5/13) of these guidelines included statements that defined what is forbidden, inappropriate, or impermissible under any circumstances, or mentioned strongly discouraged online behaviors. 53.85% (7/13) encouraged thoughtful and responsible social media use. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools and their students are using social media. Almost all US medical schools have a Facebook presence, yet most do not have policies addressing student online social networking behavior. While social media use rises, policy informing appropriate conduct in medical schools lags behind. Established policies at some medical schools can provide a blueprint for others to adopt and adapt.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Various concerns about potential professionalism implications [151-153] exist, particularly related to breaches of patient confidentiality, professional boundaries, and depiction of unprofessional behaviors.”
From Dangers and Benefits of Social Media on E-Professionalism of Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review (2021) · cites this paper as [151]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Ten years ago, many schools lacked policies specific to SM use [151], but nowadays schools have developed specific guidelines [169,170].”
From Dangers and Benefits of Social Media on E-Professionalism of Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review (2021) · cites this paper as [151]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Of the 128 schools who had policies publically available online, only 13 (10.16%)had guidelines and/or policies explicitly mentioning social media.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [26]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Five (38.46%) defined unacceptable or strongly discouraged online behaviors, whereas seven (53.85%) encouraged thoughtful and responsible use of social media.”
From e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education (2013) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“Published social media guidelines by national medical organizations and medical school social media policies often lack specific behavioral guidance or definitions of professionalism as applied to the online space.39,40”
From Social Media and Clinical Care: Ethical, Professional, and Social Implications (2013) · cites this paper as [39]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Herndon, G. A. (1977) · Serials Review · doi:10.1016/s0098-7913(77)80012-9 · Cited by 4,377
Online Posting of Unprofessional Content by Medical Students
Chretien, K. C. (2009) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1387 · Cited by 448 · cited 1×
“Online posting of unprofessional content by medical students has been reported and in some cases has resulted in expulsion (10).”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe Intersection of Online Social Networking with Medical Professionalism
Thompson, L. A., Dawson, K., Ferdig, R., Black, E. W., Boyer, J., Coutts, J., & Black, N. P. (2008) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-008-0538-8 · Cited by 425 · cited 1×
“Many trainees allow public access to their personal informational profiles, which contain information that is not usually disclosed in a doctor-patient relationship (11).”
BackgroundTeaching Professionalism in Undergraduate Medical Education
Swick, H. M. (1999) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.282.9.830 · Cited by 338 · cited 1×
“Professionalism curricula abound in undergraduate medical education (15, 16), yet the way medical schools guide student conduct on social media through policies has not been described.”
BackgroundOnline professionalism and the mirror of social media.
Greysen, S. R., Kind, T., & Chretien, K. C. (2010) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-010-1447-1 · Cited by 323 · cited 1×
“Yet that which is reflected in the mirror of social media online is not always clear or appropriate (9).”
BackgroundSelf-citationHow Web 2.0 is changing medicine
Giustini, D. (2006) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.39062.555405.80 · Cited by 315
Expectations and Obligations: Professionalism and Medicine’s Social Contract with Society
Cruess, R. L., & Cruess, S. R. (2008) · Perspectives in biology and medicine · doi:10.1353/pbm.0.0045 · Cited by 301 · cited 1×
“0 era can provide a blueprint for other schools to adopt and adapt for use, in an effort to maintain medicine’s social contract with society (18).”
BackgroundContent of Weblogs Written by Health Professionals
Lagu, T., Kaufman, E. J., Asch, D. A., & Armstrong, K. (2008) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-008-0726-6 · Cited by 255 · cited 1×
“Medical professionals have also begun blogging that is, creating web-based logs to share information, provide commentary, reflect, and portray events, even with the associated risks of this type of social media (4).”
BackgroundMedical professionalism in the age of online social networking
Guseh, J. S., Brendel, R. W., & Brendel, D. H. (2009) · Journal of Medical Ethics · doi:10.1136/jme.2009.029231 · Cited by 165
What medical educators need to know about “Web 2.0”
McGee, J. B., & Begg, M. J. (2008) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/01421590701881673 · Cited by 154 · cited 2×
“Medical students may be asked to blog for class assignments (8), and medical school course director’s blogs are in use at some schools (6).”
Background
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Greysen SR, 2010, J Gen Intern Med
- Kao A, 2003, JAMA, 2090, 1151
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–161 of 161
Advantages and Challenges of Social Media in Pediatrics
Kind, T., Greysen, S. R., & Chretien, K. C. (2011) · Pediatric Annals · doi:10.3928/00904481-20110815-05 · Cited by 6
Self-citationElmer, N. A., Veeramani, A., Hassell, N. E., Shiah, E., Manstein, S. M., Comer, C. D., Bustos, V. P., & Lin, S. J. (2022) · Plastic Surgery · doi:10.1177/22925503221101955 · Cited by 6
Athletic Training Students' Knowledge of Ethical and Legal Practice with Technology and Social Media
Winkelmann, Z. K., Neil, E. R., & Eberman, L. E. (2018) · Athletic Training Education Journal · doi:10.4085/13013 · Cited by 8
Effectiveness of social media as a medical teaching tool
Rajendran, D. R., & Virgin Joena, M. (2017) · International Journal of Medical Research and Review · doi:10.17511/ijmrr.2017.i04.02 · Cited by 6
“Out of these schools, 26% have official medical school SM pages and 71% have student groups [20].”
BackgroundTechno stress among medical freshmen: An exploratory study
Madaan, N., Wundavalli, L., & Satapathy, S. S. (2020) · Journal of Education and Health Promotion · doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_242_19 · Cited by 6
Beltrán-Aroca, C. M., & Girela-López, E. (2017) · Acta bioethica · doi:10.4067/s1726-569x2017000100189 · Cited by 10
Physicians in Cyberspace: Finding Boundaries
Jafarey, A., Shekhani, S., Azam, M.-E., Gill, R., Shirazi, B., Hassan, M., Iqbal, S. P., & Naqvi, R. (2016) · Asian Bioethics Review · doi:10.1353/asb.2016.0023 · Cited by 5
“16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 However, no such guidelines regulating medical professionals’ use of social media exist in Pakistan.”
BackgroundKnopf, E., Mohamed, A. A., Leidy, L., Perumareddi, P., & Luck, G. R. (2026) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/tct.70347 · Cited by 6
“A 2010 study found that many medical schools lacked formal guidelines on social media use, despite the platforms' widespread adoption [28].”
Antala, A. V., & Kariya, P. B. (2025) · Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences · doi:10.4103/amhs.amhs_152_24 · Cited by 7
Liu, Y., Ren, W., Qiu, Y., & Ren, J. (2018) · Telemedicine Journal and e-Health · doi:10.1089/tmj.2017.0235 · Cited by 5
“In 2010, Kind et al. 17 found that in all U.S.- accredited medical schools ( n = 132), only 13 U.S. medical schools had SM policies.”
Canadian University Social Software Guidelines and Academic Freedom: An Alarming Labour Trend
Lough, T., & Samek, T. (2014) · The International Review of Information Ethics · doi:10.29173/irie369 · Cited by 5
Use of social media by dental students: A comparative study
Al‐Obaidi, R. (2024) · Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health · doi:10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101559 · Cited by 5
RetractedMiss Manners for social networking: a new role for medical librarians
Atlas, M. (2012) · Journal of the Medical Library Association JMLA · doi:10.3163/1536-5050.100.4.004 · Cited by 5
Responding to unprofessional behaviours
Worthington, R. P., & Hays, R. (2012) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/j.1743-498x.2011.00516.x · Cited by 4
Investigating the Use of Social Networking Tools Among Medical Students
Gill, J. S., Harrison, B. J., Wood, T. J., Ramnanan, C. J., & Jalali, A. (2014) · Education in Medicine Journal · doi:10.5959/eimj.v6i4.277 · Cited by 4
Institutional Predictors of the Adoption of Employee Social Media Policies
Ouirdi, A. E., Ouirdi, M. E., Segers, J., & Pais, I. (2015) · Bulletin of Science Technology & Society · doi:10.1177/0270467615623885 · Cited by 6
Buzzelli, A. A. (2014) · Cited by 4
Analysis of the undergraduate students' learning environment in a medical school in Zambia
Ezeala, C. C. (2016) · Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa) · Cited by 4
Grajales, F. J., III (2012) · Open Collections · doi:10.14288/1.0072915 · Cited by 3
Xu, Y. (2020) · International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Design · doi:10.1109/iscid51228.2020.00080 · Cited by 3
“Investigation and analysis of social media policies in American medical schools[7].”
BackgroundWun, T., Leung, L., Martin, R. A., Mandrusiak, A., & Forbes, R. (2023) · Physiotherapy Theory and Practice · doi:10.1080/09593985.2023.2231539 · Cited by 8
“…practitioner requires new graduates to become accountable for continuing professional development (PD) through formal and informal learning activities (Bennett, Grimsley, Grimsley, and Rodd, 2017; Farsi, 2021; Kind, Genrich, Sodhi, and Chretien, 2010; Leahy, Chipchase, and Blackstock, 2017).”
Curró, G., & Ainsworth, N. (2018) · Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning · doi:10.14434/josotl.v18i3.22432 · Cited by 3
Social networking in the health professions
Jones, C. (2012) · Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) · Cited by 3
Social Media Policy in Turkish Municipalities: Disparity Between Awareness and Implementation
Karkın, N., Köseoğlu, Ö., & Sobacı, M. Z. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-27237-5_5 · Cited by 3
“Though there are studies in the fields of libraries [7], medical schools [8], cultural heritage institutions [9], and ministries [10], there is a lack of studies that focus on the issues of designing, implementing and maintaining social media policies in local governments [3, 11, 12].”
BackgroundExploring social media and admissions decision-making – friends or foes?
Law, M., Mylopoulos, M., Veinot, P., Miller, D., & Hanson, M. (2016) · Canadian Medical Education Journal · doi:10.36834/cmej.36767 · Cited by 3
“CMEJ 2016, 7(2):e4-e13 Available at http://www.”
Social media; resolving tunnel vision in practicing medicine
Kordmahaleh, F. H., Rouhipour, A., Mirbaha, S., & Baratloo, A. (2018) · Electronic physician · doi:10.19082/6179 · Cited by 3
“Establishment and application of social media policies based on the current laws in each country has been recommended (16, 17).”
BackgroundGooding, L. F., Yinger, O. S., & Gregory, D. (2014) · Update Applications of Research in Music Education · doi:10.1177/8755123314552458 · Cited by 2
“However, as stated by Kind et al. (2010), many educators themselves are still learning about social media applications and the associated implications.”
InfluentialDigital professionalism curriculum for health sciences education
Tworek, J. (2012) · Future Learning · doi:10.7564/12-fule3 · Cited by 2
Post-trauma: healthcare practitioners use social media during times of political tension
Popper‐Giveon, A., Israeli, T., & Keshet, Y. (2018) · Critical Studies in Media Communication · doi:10.1080/15295036.2018.1536296 · Cited by 3
Social Media Policies and Academic Freedom: Higher Education Faculty and Administrator Perceptions
Diamond, A. C. (2017) · Cited by 2
Keating, E. M., Haq, H. A., Crouse, H. L., Pitt, M. B., Clair, N. E. S., & Butteris, S. M. (2018) · American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.4269/ajtmh.18-0501 · Cited by 2
Educational Technology: Web 2.0
Bond, M., & Cooney, R. (2012) · doi:10.1002/9781118469804.ch9 · Cited by 2
Deepa Bently, J., Rieyaz, H. A., & Kumar, D. (2019) · Scholars International Journal of Anatomy and Physiology · doi:10.36348/sijap.2019.v02i10.004 · Cited by 1
“Among these schools, 26% have official medical school SM pages and 71% have student groups [20].”
Backgroundتأثير وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي في تنمية مهارات طلاب کليات الإعلام بدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة
حامد, س. (2021) · Al-Maǧallah Al-Miṣriyyaẗ Li-Buḥūṯ Al-Iʿlām · doi:10.21608/ejsc.2021.223206 · Cited by 1
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Global Health Blogging
Frischtak, H., & Sinha, P. (2013) · Perspectives in biology and medicine · doi:10.1353/pbm.2013.0039 · Cited by 2
“According to Kind et al. (2010), only five out of the 132 medical schools in the United States that were sampled in 2010 had specific guidelines posted online regarding social media use.”
BackgroundMedicine and Social Media – Ethical Challenges of the 21st Century
Coelho, A. S. E. D. C., Macho, V., Areias, C. M. F. G. P., & Macedo, M. P. (2014) · British Journal of Applied Science & Technology · doi:10.9734/bjast/2015/12750 · Cited by 1
Web 2.0: How Social Networking Sites are Impacting Dentistry
Gonzales, P. S., Michel‐Crosato, E., Biazevic, M. G. H., & Filho, I. E. M. (2015) · Dentistry - Open Journal · doi:10.17140/doj-2-108 · Cited by 1
Ellaway, R., & Tworek, J. (2011) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-61350-347-8.ch018 · Cited by 1
WHATSAPP MESSENGER IS A FEASIBLE TOOL TO COMPLEMENT THE TRAINING OF MEDICAL EDUCATORS IN INDIA.
Agrawal, A. C., Garg, A. K., Ingle, A. S., & Shah, S. (2022) · INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH · doi:10.36106/ijsr/0704997 · Cited by 1
Toraman, A., Sağlam, E., & Köseoğlu, S. (2022) · JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND STRATEGIC HEALTH RESEARCH · doi:10.34084/bshr.1099530 · Cited by 1
Cesarino, M. N., de Araújo, E. J., & Back, I. D. C. (2016) · Arquivos Catarinenses de Medicina · doi:10.63845/kqxmwj38 · Cited by 1
Sharif, N., & Shobain, N. (2021) · Egyptian Dental Journal /Egyptian Dental Journal · doi:10.21608/edj.2021.75910.1630 · Cited by 1
Vijayakumar, J. K. (2010) · E-LIS Repository (University of Naples Federico II) · Cited by 1
Information behaviour of medical faculty in the tertiary health institutions in Kwara State Nigeria.
Omopupa, K. T. (2016) · ResearchSpace (University of KwaZulu-Natal) · Cited by 1
Aplicaciones y estrategias "Web 2.0" en la Educación Médica
Badillo, R. (2011) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)
Trends and Implications: The Use of Facebook in the Professional World
Minamide, E. E. (2013) · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University)
Vijayakumar, J. K., Abdullah, K., Arabia, S., Nair, H., & Pathan, M. (2013) · E-LIS Repository (University of Naples Federico II)
Curriculum Design and Social Media: 140 Characters at a Time
Blevins, D. G. (2015) · Christian Education Journal Research on Educational Ministry · doi:10.1177/073989131501200213
Hessel, G., & Stein, C. O. A. (2020) · South African Journal of Pre-hospital Emergency Care · doi:10.24213/1-1-3713
Opinions of educators on distance education and e-learning in dentistry education: a survey study
Toraman, A., Sağlam, E., & Köseoğlu, S. (2022) · Yeditepe Dental Journal · doi:10.5505/yeditepe.2022.67689
Evaluation of the compatibility of visagism concept with natural teeth
Akmansoy, Ş. C., Abbasgholizadeh, Z. Ş., & Özkan, Y. (2022) · Yeditepe Dental Journal · doi:10.5505/yeditepe.2022.82621 · Cited by 1
Sarabia, S. (2019) · Revista de Neuro-Psiquiatría · doi:10.20453/rnp.v82i1.3479
Mafinejad, M. K., Kadivar, M., Asghari, F., Jannat, Z., & Hadizadeh, N. (2023) · Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine · doi:10.18502/jmehm.v15i10.11566
Social Media Policies of Medical Colleges of Pakistan
Joya, S. M., & Qutab, M. (2022) · Health Professions Educator Journal · doi:10.53708/hpej.v5i2.1256
Labisso, W. L., & Mekasha, A. (2024) · doi:10.2196/preprints.58706
Social Media Policies in U.S. Medical Education: An Analysis of Content, Consistency, and Gaps
Knopf, E., Leidy, L., Peters, D., Luck, G. R., & Jacomino, M. (2025) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.87134
“In 2010, Kind et al. found that only 13 allopathic (M.D.) medical schools in the United States had formal social media policies, reflecting the early stage of institutional guidance on digital professionalism [8].”
Dai, N., & Waarala, K. L. (2026) · medRxiv · doi:10.64898/2026.09.18.26363437
(2014) · PubMed · Cited by 16
Metadata
- Authors
- Kind, T., Genrich, G., Sodhi, A., & Chretien, K. C.
- Affiliations
- Children's National (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- George Washington University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kind, Terry
- Venue
- Medical Education Online
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5324
- ISSN
- 1087-2981 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2941429
- OpenAlex
- W2031569140
- Cited by
- 161
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 18.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Medical Education Online (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Association of American Medical Colleges
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Innovations in Medical Education
- Keywords
- social media policy, medical schools, medical students, Facebook, Twitter, social networking, microblogging, patient confidentiality, online behavior
- MeSH terms
- Confidentiality, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Schools, Medical, Students, Medical, United States, Organizational Policy, Internet, Blogging
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 ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
