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5 things med students can do to engage in social media and medicine

Last week, I had the distinct privilege of being invited to participate in the 27th Annual Student Physician Awareness Day at New York Medical College. The event—organized by first year medical students—focused on the influence of social media on medicine. The list of speakers included a veritable “who’s who” of physician-bloggers and health care social media experts. Kent Bottles, taking extensive long-hand notes, has written an excellent summary of the event.

Social media and medicine is a broad topic. The invited speakers did an incredible job of highlighting why social media is so important to the future of medicine while tempering an optimistic outlook with a dose of reality and cautionary tales about how some have gone astray in their social media use. I left the event inspired and hopeful for the future of medicine.

One topic we neglected, however, was what current medical students can do right now to get their foot in the door and begin engaging in the social media and medicine conversation. I had hoped to get to this topic during my panel discussion, but there just weren’t enough hours to cover everything. Below is my attempt to remedy this omission. Here are a few simple things you can do:

1. Listen in on the conversation—One of the first things taught to medical students is to listen to your patients. Today, a huge conversation about health care is occurring through social media and we need to be listening to what patients and thought-leaders are discussing. By and large, this conversation is happening on blogs and Twitter, as well as some other social media platforms. Sign-up for Twitter right now (use your real name) and simply listen to what is going on by following some hashtags. Click the “Discover” button at the top and skim through the discussion on the #hcsm (healthcare communications & social media) or #meded (medical education) tags.
2. Make connections—The social nature of the Internet now allows us to breakdown the barriers of time and space. Today, we can connect with virtually anyone, anywhere. Even more amazing is the melting of traditional hierarchical structures pervasive throughout medicine. Social media allows us lowly medical students to connect with CEOs of huge health corporations, renowned physicians and surgeons, innovators at the hottest health startups, and leaders in our own communities. But even more importantly, it allows us to connect with each other more efficiently and with patients. The growing ePatient movement now puts patient voices on equal footing with the traditional medical leaders. Social media is flattening the medical hierarchy and us medical students have a seat at the table.
3. Learn the tools—Many social media platforms exist. However, Twitter seems to be the dominant force today in the social media and medicine discussion. Twitter can be fully utilized through their site, but your experience can be greatly enhanced by employing other tools. Apps for your mobile devices are essential and allow you to stay up to date and participate in the discussion from anywhere. Twitter’s own apps for iOS devices and Android are great in their own right. I personally use Tweetbot on my iOS devices and Tweetdeck on my computer. Each set of tools has their strengths and weaknesses, figure out what works for you. And, while Twitter is the best place to start, don’t limit yourself. Explore the social media and medicine discussions on blogs and Facebook and Pintrest and Tumblr and whatever else you come across. New platforms are introduced everyday and people find great new uses for old platforms. Start with Twitter and go from there.
4. Research your future—Eventually we have to move on from medical school. (If you’re a second year studying for boards right now, you would like to move on TODAY.) For most, this means residency. By reading this post, you are already indicating you’re a forward-thinking med student interested in the future of medicine. Don’t you want a residency program and hospital that is at the forefront as well? Some residency programs and many hospitals have strong social media presences. By following what these organizations are putting out in the social media space, you can effectively discern what is important to them and what great things are going on at their institutions. This will help you find a match long before you set foot in a program director’s office for an interview. Maybe residency isn’t in your future plans. What better way to engage with research institutions, medical companies, health tech startups, public health organizations, government agencies and other potential employers than social media? You may find an entirely new career you had never considered before or carve out your own path. Engaging in social media only opens doors.
5. Have fun and practice professionalism—Engaging in social media as part of my medical career has been an incredibly enlightening and fun endeavor, as it should be. Always keep in mind that participating in the discussion is controlled by you. Med students lead busy lives. One of the best parts of social media is the ability to dictate your level of commitment. When I was studying for Step 1, I went nearly silent on my blog and Twitter account. I have the freedom to make that decision. At the same time, I also have the burden of engaging responsibly. I loathe how much attention is given to inappropriate use of social media by medical professionals, so I will leave you with the following advice: Social media platforms are public spaces. Treat them as you would any other public space by remembering you are a health care professional and your primary responsibility is to your patients. Your chief responsibility is safeguarding their privacy and comporting yourself in a professional manner.

Engaging in the social media and medicine discussion is an incredibly rewarding experience and will make you a better medical student and future physician. Hopefully these tips will get you started. Please leave any further suggestions or questions in the comments or contact me directly! I almost forgot, follow me on Twitter!!