This may interest.
Social networking could haunt doctors
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The hazards of posting revealing information on social networking sites
are well-known, but when it comes to medical students, even innocent quips
about college shenanigans could be too much.
There's just something unsettling about knowing that your doctor was a
hero at "keg stands" or a member of "Physicians looking for
trophy wives in training."
A University of Florida study published this week in the Journal of General InternalMedicine
examined the Facebook pages of 362 medical students and found information that
some faculty members believe is inappropriate for future doctors.
"We were a little shocked," said Lindsay Acheson Thompson, an
assistant professor of general pediatrics at UF's College of Medicine, who
worked on the study. "Facebooking is part of our culture, but when you are
an emerging specialist in medicine, you have to realize that this is public
domain that your patients can access."
According to the study, which began last summer, only 37 percent of the
medical students studied had set their Facebook pages to "private" so
that only people they approve can see it.
Students revealed sexual orientation and relationship status, posted
political opinions and included photos, some of which implied excessive or
hazardous drinking.
Other students were members of eyebrow-raising groups such as "I
should have gone to a blacker college" and "I hate medical
school."
"Doctors are held to a higher standard," Thompson said.
"My hunch is medicine has just been a little bit behind in knowing how
widespread the use of this is."
UF cautions all students about putting personal information on Facebook
pages. Two years ago, voluntary guidelines were issued that include tips such
as "Partying and boozing probably don't qualify as hobbies and
interests."
Thompson said some professors are wondering whether stricter rules
should apply to medical students.
Besides the embarrassment of a patient seeing a doctor in a
compromising position, there could be more serious legal implications.
If a doctor gets sued for malpractice, a drunken Facebook photo from a
college frat party could be used as evidence of a drinking problem, even if
there is none, Thompson said.
Greg Florenza, a second-year resident at Shands Hospital in
Gainesville, said he toned down his networking pages after he was cautioned
near graduation about patients or employers looking at the sites.
And age, or endless residency rounds, seems to reduce social networking
use. The study found that while 64 percent of medical students had public
Facebook accounts, only 12 percent of resident physicians did.
"I'm pretty boring, so there wasn't anything outrageous on
mine," Florenza said. "But things normal people do, having a beer at
a bar, it can be misinterpreted and you have to consider what your patients may
think."
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/07/10/m1a_uf_study_0711.html