The Med in Social Media: The Role Twitter Can Play in the Medical Student Toolkit

Medical school is a melting pot of passions and intellect. Therefore, I was surprised when it was here that I felt, for the first time, alone in my interests. I had fallen in love with the idea of using social media as a health care tool for both patients and providers. However, this concept is still in its infancy. With colleagues dedicated to so many different projects, it was difficult to convince them to join a movement that is still finding its place in medicine. Additionally, many of us are wary of putting our professional reputations at risk before they even have a chance to form. Statements made on social media in the heat of the moment can come back years later in haunting ways. A poorly thought out or timed tweet can become viral in minutes. While I found this discouraging, the very platform I was trying to promote provided me with relief. On Twitter, I could find the conversations I craved with a simple #hashtag filter. Even when I didn’t know what I was looking for, I asked questions, and a simple like reminded me that I was not alone in my questioning. I followed mentors I admired, shaping my newsfeed into a flow of articles I cared about. Through them I learned of other hashtags and “mentors” I could follow. The quotations only indicate that most of these mentors probably are unaware of how they are influencing my personal career decisions and growth. I happily grew into my lurker position and reached out of it occasionally. I learned about conference hash...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Trainee Perspective medical education social media Twitter Source Type: blogs