An international study of consumption and contribution to social media by medical students

Understanding how students and educators use social media, and their perceptions of its benefits, may lead toopportunities for successful integration of social media to benefit all those involved in medical education. Weaimed to explore and describe how medical students use social media in countries across the world, including theextent to which they consume and contribute. 741 students from 8 institutions in 5 countries answered a 16-itemquestionnaire. The majority of students were using some form of social media, with the most popular applicationbeing Facebook. Social communication and entertainment were the most cited reasons for using social media.Students reported valuing social media for educational reasons and, in particular, information and resourcesharing between peers. Institution-student interactions were not common amongst medical students and whilstsome students reported wanting more of this, others reported that they did not. The paucity of student-institutioninteractions on social media did not vary across institutions. Although some students could see benefits toincreasing use of social media by medical schools, others had concerns about this. Of particular concern wereconfidentiality and professionalism online and the perception that the medical schools might not do it well.Medical schools should have a clear rationale for engaging further in social media, mindful of what students wantand of the need for the engagement to be conducted professionally.