Social Media And Its Impact On Medical Education

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The ubiquitous prevalence of social media has made it an unrivaled source of networking. As of June 30, 2014, Facebook published that they have 1.32 billion active accounts. In 2015, there were approximately more than 77.6 million active Instagram users in the United States. As of 2015, 77 percent aged 12-to-17 in the United States owned cell phones. Generation Z is the demographic cohort following the Millennials. Generation Z was born into the information age with technology that to their grandparents was science fiction. Generation Z embraces technology as a normal part of daily life. Generation Z is comfortable with new technologies and grew up with parents that embraced technology. Generation Z has grown up in the current environment …show more content…

New teaching tools must be evaluated for educational impact. Problem based learning was once a controversial concept in education. After evaluation and evidence was accumulated, it was implemented as a part of medical education curriculum. Simulation education was also met with pessimism regarding potential risks. Articles supporting the benefits eventually outweighed initial opinion driven evaluation. Anecdotal evidence and cautionary tales are not true evidence and as the body of research grows new tools become the norm. A secondary data analysis of review of social media use in medical education shows social media following the pattern related to other emerging medical education tools. Descriptive accounts warning of the dangers of professionalism were the opinion-based primary response at the moment of the beginning of a new transition from old to new idea. Popularity, accessibility, dynamic use, reflection, professional development opportunities all create student demand for use of social media in graduate medical education. This emerging tool can be used to enhance social connections and …show more content…

Social media-based learning is lacking a peer-review system. User-generated content is limiting the quality of content that is suitable for students. Academic institutions should increase the reliability of online media for their students. Medical schools need to increase the proportion of academic-generated distributive content online containing true and complete information. Students have positive views of push education. Push technology is communication from the instructor that learners sign up to receive. In the future, push technologies may be better utilized as a forum for group discussions and collaboration. Connecting educators with students is one form of communication. Social media can also be used to increase communication between

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