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The Changing Face of Communities, Conversations, and Connections
by Jan Perez, CCMEP
Recall the last time you had a question about a difficult case, drug interaction, treatment guideline, or assessment tool. Did you reach for a textbook—or did you reach for your smart phone or laptop? Increasingly, clinicians everywhere are replacing their “go-to” textbooks with “go-to” websites or medical applications. For many healthcare professionals, online activity has progressed beyond data searches to include a myriad of social interactions such as connecting with colleagues in virtual communities to exchange insights, discuss complex cases, and share best practices.
Once the coveted domain of adolescents and college students, Facebook now reports that the fastest growing demographic among its 400 million active users is 34-55 year-olds.(1,2) Many in this age group ventured into the social media space through Facebook as a way to stay connected with family and friends (e.g., sharing photos and updates). However, with more experience, young and middle-aged adults have expanded beyond personal use to develop trusted professional communities.
One such site rapidly increasing in popularity is LinkedIn. While Facebook is predominately geared toward social interaction, LinkedIn is a professional networking tool, which allows you to connect with past and current colleagues, clients, and business associates, while building a powerful web of professional contacts. The premise of LinkedIn is that once you add someone to your network, you are connected to their network, and every addition to your contacts makes your network grow exponentially.
Humans have been interacting since the beginning of time; and while technology hasn’t fundamentally changed the nature of human behavior, it has accelerated the pace of interactions around the “virtual water cooler”. As in any human interaction, transparency and trust are key elements of the exchange. Networking sites restricted to licensed professionals that require credential verification for entry are growing.(3,4) These sites offer a variety of features from job postings to medical news to clinical and social discussion forums. Experts recommend that, as with any discussion, physicians and healthcare providers evaluate information from social network sites the same way they would evaluate advice from colleagues—balancing the information with evidence and their own experience.
Twitter is emerging as an effective tool for updates on breaking medical news, interactions with colleagues on issues, and commenting on virtual discussions. The Twitter limit of 140 characters keeps interactions brief, focused, and fast-paced.(5) For participants in the room of a symposium, Twitter can be used as a vehicle to ask questions and interact with faculty and other participants during the presentation. Are there two scientific sessions at a meeting you thought would be valuable? Conversations and key educational messages can be shared beyond the ballroom. Educators can use Twitter to remind and reinforce after the event and survey learners on how they implemented the concepts in clinical practice.
How will social media change medical education? As a large part of the educational process evolves from informal learning through interactions with colleagues and mentors, the use of social media to engage and share is a natural fit. The landscape of communication is changing. Over the coming months, neuroscienceCME will be implementing new vehicles for education to meet the changing communication landscape. It is our goal to engage you, the learner, in a conversation that will result in the sharing of best practices, insights, ideas, and improvement in the care of our patients. Follow us!
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References
- Facebook. Press Room: Statistics. Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/press/info. php?statistics. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- IStrategyLabs. 2009 Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report: 276% Growth in 35-54 Year Old Users. http://www.istrategylabs.com/2009/01/2009-facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-276-growth-in-35-54-year-old-users. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Jain SH. Practicing medicine in the age of Facebook. N Eng J Med 2009;361:649-651.
- Welch, S. Use social media: Doctor’s orders! [ACCP Blog] http://www.chestnet.org/ accp/blogs/use-social-media-doctors-orders. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Twitter.com. Getting started. http://twitter.com/help/start. Accessed April 28, 2010.
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