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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2021; 13(02): e195-e199
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1736661
Research Article

Self-Reported Social Media Use among Ophthalmology Residents

Arjun Watane
1   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
2   Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
,
Hasenin Al-khersan
1   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
,
Meghana Kalavar
1   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
3   Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Ohio State University Havener Eye Institute, Columbus, Ohio
,
Bilal Ahmed
4   Department of Ophthalmology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
,
Michael Venincasa
1   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
,
Jayanth Sridhar
1   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
› Author Affiliations Funding Bascom Palmer Eye Institute received funding from the NIH Core Grant P30EY014801, Department of Defense Grant #W81XWH-13–1-0048, and a Research to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Grant. The sponsors or funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research.
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Abstract

Objective To assess ophthalmology trainees' self-reported use of and attitudes toward social media.

Methods An online survey was distributed by email to ophthalmology residency applicants of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute between September 2016 and January 2020.

Results Of the 1,688 email recipients, the survey was filled by 208 ophthalmology trainees (12.3%). Nearly all trainees reported using social media for personal purposes (92.3%), while less than half used social media for professional purposes (43.4%). There were mixed sentiments regarding the impact of social media on the patient–physician relationship, with the majority feeling that it challenges a physician's authority (55.2%) but also empowers the patient (57.5%) and encourages shared care (92.8%). Twenty-five percent of trainees had reviewed professional social media guidelines, and most rated the quality of medical information on social media as “poor” (60.9%). There were low rates of trainees looking up patients (13.8%), providing their account information to patients (1.5%), responding to patients' messages (2.6%), following patients' accounts (2.6%), and being followed by patients (2.6%).

Conclusion The majority of ophthalmology trainees are active on social media. As these trainees enter practice, ophthalmology will likely see a rise in social media use. Training programs should consider a formal social media policy that is shared with all trainees as part of their education.

Keywords

social media - ophthalmology - residency


Publication History

Received: 17 March 2021

Accepted: 26 July 2021

Article published online:
01 December 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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