Posted on 09/27/2009 2:49:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Hey, physicians-in-training: Blabbing about patient care on Facebook and Twitter are Doctor No-Nos.
A new survey of medical-school deans reveals that med students' unprofessional conduct on social networking sites and blogs is common, according to Time magazine.
Many of the future doctors use YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and Facebook to discuss sexual misconduct, post discriminatory statements and talk about patient cases, according to the survey, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It's ongoing even though the students understand patient-confidentiality laws and have been instructed in the ethical standards of their chosen profession, according to the article in Time.
Inappropriate use of the social networking sites is common. Of the 80 medical-school deans who were surveyed, some 60% reported incidents of unprofessional postings. Another 13% of the deans admitted there are incidents that violated patient privacy, according to Time.
"I didn't expect to find so many incidents of unprofessional conduct," Dr. Katherine Chretien, medicine-clerkship director at the Veterans Administration hospital in Washington and the study's lead author, told Time. She said she just assumed that med students were "educated about professional conduct online and used better judgment."
But in fact some students posted drunken party pictures online, tweeted about their daily routines, and posted what they felt like on their personal profiles, according to Time.
"They view their Facebook pages as their Internet persona," Dr. Neil Parker, senior associate dean for graduate medical education at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, told Time. "They think it's something only for their friends, even though it's not private."
Chretien told Time that med schools need to include more education on what's appropriate for students to discuss and what should be kept private.
It's starting to happen in at least one school: At UCLA, Parker has created a task force to establish guidelines that students can adhere to when deciding what, and what not, to post.
I thought discussing patient cases was okay if you don’t use any specifics which would give their identity away?
By the way, I was sorry to hear about your hernia.
The hospital where I work blocked facebook and youtube. I’m sure myspace is sure to follow.
I heard they circumcised him, too, since he was already under anesthesia.
Lawyers do this as well. As long as the client isn’t identifiable - by name or by specific details, you can discuss the issues with another person. This is how people learn from experienced professionals in the field, either talking to colleagues or telling ‘war stories’ to students in class.
That said, I don’t know how these med students are talking about their conduct and their patients. It may be beyond the bounds of propriety.
So it’s OK for a med student to have a drinking problem as long as the public doesn’t find out?
I suppose that argument can be made when the patient being discussed is unknown to the individual overhearing the discussion.But,among other things,you can never assume that that person standing behind you on the elevator *isn't* related.
My medical history is so extensive I am sure my doctors have shared it with many people.
One would assume that med school students and medical doctors would be intellectually and ethically above this kind of behavior without being told.
You are joking, aren't you?
Not joking, just sadly implying that the ethics are not what they should be. Sad but 99.9% true in every profession.
Had surgery for his Hemmorroids too?
Poor guy, said it was like “Sitten on a Hen’s egg.”
The doctor told him, “Now, this is gonna stiiiing
a lil bit.”
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