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Much has been written recently about social media use amongst medical students and physicians. Some professional medical societies have come up with guidelines for social media use, such as these from the Massachusetts Medical Society. In addition, the Federation of State Medical Boards has published “Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking in Medical Practice” and the American Medical Association has also chimed in on this topic.
Individual medical schools have also come up with written documents to guide medical students in the use of social media to ensure that they maintain professional standards. To get a sense of these guidelines, take a look at these examples from Indiana University, Mt. Sinai, Northwestern, the University of Illinois, Wright State, and Washington University.
Social media has opened up new means of connecting with others and conveying information. But it has also created opportunities for misuse, which prompted medical schools and medical societies to adopt guidelines to help medical students and physicians navigates its use. Medical school applicants should also be mindful of their online presence/image and take care to make sure that they are professional in their use of social media. For guidance on that topic, please refer to my prior blog post on how your digital presence affects medical school admission.
–Liza Thompson, Expert Medical School Admissions Consulting
