Med Schools Report Students Post Unprofessional Content

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Med Schools Report Students Post Unprofessional Content

SciMed - Horizons

TS-Si News Service

Monday, 28 September 2009 03:00

Many Med Schools Report Students Post Unprofessional Content

Washington, DC, USA. A majority of medical schools in a new survey report they have experienced incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, including violations of patient confidentiality.However, few schools have policies to address these types of postings.The study findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in a theme issue on medical education.

Katherine C. Chretien, M.D., of the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center, and her colleagues examined reported incidents of medical students posting unprofessional content online at U.S. medical schools.

The researchers sent an anonymous survey was sent to deans of student affairs, their representatives, or counterparts from each institution in the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

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The data were collected in March and April 2009, with responses from 60 percent of U.S. medical schools (78/130). The researchers found that

Of the schools that responded, 60 percent (47/78) reported ever having incidents involving students posting unprofessional content.
In the past year, 13 percent (6/47) of these had no incidents, 78 percent (36/47) had fewer than 5 incidents, 7 percent (3/47) had 5 to 15 incidents, and 2 percent (1/47) had some incidents but did not know how many.
Incidents involving violation of patient confidentiality in the past year were reported by 13 percent (6/46).
Student use of profanity, frankly discriminatory language, depiction of intoxication, and sexually suggestive material were more commonly reported.
Issues of conflict of interest were rare.

A total of 45 schools reported an incident and responded to the question about disciplinary actions.

30 gave informal warning (67 percent) and
3 reported student dismissal (7 percent).

Policies that cover student-posted online content were reported by 38 percent (28/73) of deans. Of schools without such policies, 11 percent (5/46) were actively developing new policies to cover online content.

Deans reporting incidents were significantly more likely to report having such a policy (51 percent vs. 18 percent), believing these issues could be effectively addressed (91 percent vs. 63 percent;), and having higher levels of concern."

According to the researchers, there are a number of actions that medical schools could take that might address some of the concerns raised by these findings. "The formal professionalism curriculum should include a digital media component, which could include instruction on managing the 'digital footprint,' such as electing privacy settings on social networking sites and performing periodic Web searches of oneself. This is important given that residency program directors, future employers, and patients may access this information."

Internet applications built around user-generated content include social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), media-sharing sites (e.g., Flickr, YouTube), blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Sites like these are likely destinations for post unprofessional content online that reflects poorly on individuals, affiliated institutions, and the medical profession.

"There are few data to document unprofessional behavior in medical student–posted online content. Also, the adequacy of current institutional professionalism policies, given these new challenges, is unknown," the authors write.

Author AffiliationsMedical Service, Washington DC VA Medical Center and Department of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (Drs K. C. Chretien and Greysen);

Department of Health Policy, George Washington University School of Public Policy and Public Administration (Dr Greysen); and Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Department of Medical Education, Children's National Medical Center (Dr Kind), Washington, DC;

Division of Health Sciences Informatics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (Dr J.-P. Chretien).

CitationOnline Posting of Unprofessional Content by Medical Students. Katherine C. Chretien, S. Ryan Greysen, Jean-Paul Chretien, Terry Kind. JAMA; 2009; 302 (12): 1309-1315

Abstract

Context. Web 2.0 applications, such as social networking sites, are creating new challenges for medical professionalism. The scope of this problem in undergraduate medical education is not well-defined.

Objective. To assess the experience of US medical schools with online posting of unprofessional content by students and existing medical school policies to address online posting.

Design, Setting, and Participants. An anonymous electronic survey was sent to deans of student affairs, their representatives, or counterparts from each institution in the Association of American Medical Colleges. Data were collected in March and April 2009.

Main Outcome Measures. Percentage of schools reporting incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, type of professionalism infraction, disciplinary actions taken, existence of institution policies, and plans for policy development.

Results. Sixty percent of US medical schools responded (78/130). Of these schools, 60% (47/78) reported incidents of students posting unprofessional online content. Violations of patient confidentiality were reported by 13% (6/46). Student use of profanity (52%; 22/42), frankly discriminatory language (48%; 19/40), depiction of intoxication (39%; 17/44), and sexually suggestive material (38%; 16/42) were commonly reported. Of 45 schools that reported an incident and responded to the question about disciplinary actions, 30 gave informal warning (67%) and 3 reported student dismissal (7%). Policies that cover student-posted online content were reported by 38% (28/73) of deans. Of schools without such policies, 11% (5/46) were actively developing new policies to cover online content. Deans reporting incidents were significantly more likely to report having such a policy (51% vs 18%; P = .006), believing these issues could be effectively addressed (91% vs 63%; P = .003), and having higher levels of concern (P = .02).

Conclusion. Many responding schools had incidents of unprofessional student online postings, but they may not have adequate policy in place.

The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.

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Last Updated on Sunday, 27 September 2009 22:10

TS-Siis dedicated to the acceptance, legal protection, and medical treatment of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.

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