social media in medical education... it's all about the network

What is the role of Twitter in medical education?

I started using Twitter (and this blog) because I wanted to connect with people who I didn't know how to connect with otherwise. I wanted to connect to people who worked in medical education but I got a lot more than I bargained for. I found a wonderful network of people who I continually learn from. I can share, and get feedback, dip in and out, refine my thoughts, and the rest.

But do I think that we should use it in our courses? What for?

Last week I attended a workshop lead by Claudia Megele on social media in higher education. She has done tremendous work in establishing several 'knowledge networks' including #mhchat (mental health chat). She then introduced a group of social work students to social media including Twitter. They used pseudonyms but participated in regular Twitter chats and discussed topics online.

It seems to me that the most powerful thing that Claudia did was to introduce her students to her networks. She helped them to become part of a community discussing mutual topics of interest online.

So how can we, committed to health professional education, help our students? I think we can do the same thing. We can give our students access to our knowledge networks.