Social media policy training in health professional education

Ching-yee Lam
The Open University of Hong Kong, HKSAR

Agnes Fung-yee Tiwari
The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR

Kendall Ho and Wendy Davis
University of British Columbia, Canada

Jason Last and Hilary Hughes
University College Dublin, Ireland

Damien Walmsley and Baljeet Nandra
University of Birmingham, UK

Claire Anderson and Emily Cutts
University of Nottingham, UK

Louisa Remedios and Phil Goebel
The University of Melbourne, Australia

Martin Hernandez and Estefanía Terrazas
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico

Lu Ye and Runyu Zou
Fudan University, China

While social media have the potential for providing the largest, most accessible and interactive learning environment to support and enhance ubiquitous learning, little is known about social media policy training in health professional education.

The aim of this study is to explore faculty training in using social media for educational purpose and experiences of resources-sharing among educators and students in a health professional context.

An international, interprofessional research team, made up of eight universities across the Universitas 21 consortium, collaborated on the design and implementation of this study. Both health professional educators and students from the eight universities responded to an online survey.

A total of 1,537 people completed the survey, made up of 15% educators and 85% students. While 93% of the respondents used social media for education or learning purposes, only one-third of them had received training from their faculty or school on the policies for using social media. The respondents who had received training reported improved confidence in using social media for educational purposes. Compared to the students, educators are more likely to look for such training. Respondents also reported their experience in sharing information in social media, but without explicit permission being sought. Their major sharing included (i) sharing personal opinions or comments on clinical experience, and about colleagues, educators or students; (ii) sharing information or images of the internal environment of their work institutions; and (iii) sharing clinical images.

University administrators must recognize the increased use of social media in health professional education. Necessary training in social media policy or guidelines will promote the proper use of social media among both educators and students.