Wishful thinking in medical education

Andy, very interested to read of your conference e...

2012-05-26T00:48:56.316+01:00

Andy, very interested to read of your conference experience. I spent part of last week at the Australian Veterinary Association conference and went with the intention of tweeting and blogging. To their credit the organisers advertised a hashtag about 2 days before the start of the conference (#AVA2012). I tweeted from most of the sessions I attended and the AVA made regular tweets but I was really disappointed that only about 5 other delegates tweeted. I have blogged on my site (http://rebekahmbrown.com) my impressions of the proceedings and tweeted the link through the hashtag. I have had a few responses but not much. I'm still really glad I made the effort to tweet and blog and actually intend to write a post about the experience in a week or two, allowing a bit of time to see if any/how much follow up develops.

Very interesting Anne Marie. There's obviously...

2012-05-26T00:47:32.789+01:00

Very interesting Anne Marie. There's obviously a niche for advising hospitals on social media use. Being from Oz I looked at the Australian analysis and then at a link to a hospital near my home that has a social media presence. I noticed that there are no links to their social media sites on the website landing page, which I see as an oversight.

Thanks Simon, I think Facebook does have differen...

2012-05-24T10:50:10.999+01:00

Thanks Simon,

I think Facebook does have different social spaces. A group is a space. A page is a space. My friend's or my wall are spaces. The only part of me that I bring to a public page or a group is that which is my public profile. That's available to anyone with a Facebook account so I don't see the logic of setting up a separate FB profile to bring to those spaces.
Even if I were to set up a 'professional' Facebook profile (and I mean profile here not a page) I would feel uncomfortable connecting with students using it. Why would I want to be FB friends with a student no matter what account I was using?
I disagree that Facebook lacks granularity. It's just that many of us don't use it. This student suggests that setting up a 'limited' profile is one of the options to use when a teacher requests that you use FB for educational purposes. http://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/3418-should-you-be-facebook-friends-with-your-teachers

I think that Benedict and Kelly's interaction about 'pretending to be someone else' is very interesting. What Benedict writes about modifying behaviour and language, fits with 'Goffman 101'. But he see setting up another profile altogether as being a step beyond this, as 'pretending to be someone else'.

It's fascinating. I completely respect other people's choices n how to use any tool. But I think it is worthwhile trying to tease out what lies behind different choices- especially if we want to talk through these issues with others who might be taking first steps.

Thanks both,
AM

Hi Kelly - that's most interesting. Although I...

2012-05-24T10:06:18.946+01:00

Hi Kelly - that's most interesting. Although I haven't felt the need to go as far as creating a separate profile, my trust in Facebook has been eroded by privacy changes which have been confusing and quite opaque. But I hadn't really seen the "profile" in FB as analogous to a physical space, more as an identity that I bring to those spaces, eg. a group, an event, etc. Of course, to some degree it fulfils both functions...one of the things about these tools is I never stop discovering people using them in ways that simply hadn't occurred to me. Your point about the fluidity of identity strikes a chord; again this is not something Facebook does well but the developments in Google+ with circle-level granularity for profile elements are an improvement. This reflects that there are common elements in my online identity, as well as some aspects of myself that I share only with one group or another. There's still room for improvement... But this is of interest to me because I want to present more than just two "identities" (or rather, facets of my identity) with lots of overlaps.

Trust is perhaps the key in this. However well developed a multi-faceted profile might be, if Facebook or Google can't be trusted, of course complete separation is the only route.

Hi Kelly, Thanks for your comment though I suspect...

2012-05-23T22:42:13.004+01:00

Hi Kelly,
Thanks for your comment though I suspect we are talking about using Facebbok with students in quite different ways.
Do you encourage students to set up second accounts to connect with you as well? I understand that is against FB's terms and conditions to have two separate personal profiles, although a personal profile and professional page would be acceptable of course.
I want to explore how a personal profile on Facebook can be used in semi-professional ways. After all the self-organising students are not, as far as I know, setting up several profiles. I've used the face that I'm using my own personal profile to explore with students how their own personal profile appears through others through the use of screencasts.
Thanks again,
AM

Well. I have watched and read with intrigue the di...

2012-05-23T20:10:39.400+01:00

Well. I have watched and read with intrigue the dialogue here and on your earlier post about the use of Facebook in learning activities, be they student-led or faculty or institution-supported. I wanted to comment on the thread here about setting up two profiles and why one would do this. Well I do. I have a personal account for "family and close-friends" and I have a professional account, I use to connect with "professional peers, students, business professionals etc."

A question of Trust! To respond to the question from Simone and Anne Marie "why" when the digital social context that is Facebook provides the functionality and settings to filter, sort and list "connections?" ... I don't trust Facebook to maintain those settings and functionality as the platform is developed. I see them and use them as spaces with different purposes, uses and types of member interaction ... Like I see the "university cafeteria" and "my own dinning room at home" as different social spaces, although I eat and entertain in both.

A question of user-choice! To respond to Benedict Warner about this having "unprofessional undertones" ... a personal account doesn't = unprofessional, nor does it mean one 'pretends to be someone else. Our identities are naturally fluid as based on who we are interacting with, where, why, and through what means. This is Goffman 101. For some (such as me) this translates to a users choice in how they set their own boundaries between a personal/private social self versus as a professional/public social self in digital social contexts. It is also a users-choice in how, where and why they connect to me (if they so wish).

A question of respect! I think what is of utmost importance in all discussions about how "people" use and consider the use of digital social contexts - in work, learning and living, that we respect user-choice and wherein variability in access occurs, "we" adapt ourselves to accommodate. For example, my parents don't use Facebook, and are those not connected on my personal-family profile. But they doesn't mean I stop calling or sharing the same information with them, I just do it in a different way to meet their needs.

After all, the only thing any of us can ever control ... is ourselves and our interactions with others. :-)

Dear Anonymous, Thank you for your comment. It'...

2012-05-22T13:12:26.950+01:00

Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your comment. It's a pity that you don't give some more information about where you are working or what subject you are teaching as it would help give more context to your view.

You are concerned about students feeling ostracized. Does this mean that we should advise students not to set up the groups that they already are using? What can we do to help the students who feel left out already? Surely we need to talk to the students who are self-organising in Facebook to understand their motivation?

I'm very interested in your comment that we shouldn't use any external tools. Why is this? Do you mean not to use YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare. Mindmeister, Diigo, Delicious, Screenr etc?

Do you think that Twitter is a non-interactive tool? I think it can work that way but I'm not sure of the value.

Thanks again
AM

I do not believe Facebook has any place whatsoever...

2012-05-22T11:09:33.023+01:00

I do not believe Facebook has any place whatsoever in an educational context. There are more students than you would think who choose not to be apart of the network. By forming separate groups on the site they will feel ostracized. Blackboard works well enough, and email is available. You need to consider all students and all work should be done through the tools provided by the university, nothing external. I have many students young and old who do not have facebook accounts and do not wish to. Twitter is a good means of providing updates, because the users do not require accounts to view the messages and it is less interactive. But Facebook, definitely not.

Thanks for this post, Anne Marie...really useful f...

2012-05-21T10:21:30.410+01:00

Thanks for this post, Anne Marie...really useful for me as I talk to HPs about social media at two conferences in Ozzie later this week. Sarah

Great Article! I instigated the #ACEM2011 twitter ...

2012-05-20T13:24:33.014+01:00

Great Article!
I instigated the #ACEM2011 twitter tag at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine's annual conference in Sydney in November last year, as no-one else at the conference (least of all the conference organisers) had thought to use social media. It resulted in a tremendous uptake by delegates, and was a fantastic way to network and communicate about the sessions, in real-time (and to share information with those who weren't fortunate enough to be able to attend). I summarised each days proceedings on my website, and tweeted these posts to followers as well to maximise conference information distribution.

Dr Andy Buck
@edexam
http://www.edexam.com.au
Emergency Physician
Melbourne/Darwin, Australia

Great work Anne Marie Fantastic run down of #hcsm ...

2012-05-20T13:11:51.841+01:00

Great work Anne Marie
Fantastic run down of #hcsm from a global point of view
Very interesting to see so many great pieces of writing...and find some new blogs to read!
Mike

Great review, AnneMarie. Thank you very much! :)

2012-05-17T21:59:29.218+01:00

Great review, AnneMarie. Thank you very much! :)

Nice post Ann Marie . I just want to share how we ...

2012-05-17T21:41:13.282+01:00

Nice post Ann Marie . I just want to share how we are using social networks with our students in Colombia (South America) . 3 posts in my Blog which its in spanish but you have a translator at http://www.carvica1.blogspot.com/2011/12/como-podemos-usar-las-redes-sociales-en.html and http://www.carvica1.blogspot.com/2012/02/como-podemos-utilizar-las-redes.html and finally http://www.carvica1.blogspot.com/2012/03/como-usar-las-redes-sociales-en.html

Nice post, Anne Marie :) A couple more links: #h...

2012-05-17T09:16:55.265+01:00

Nice post, Anne Marie :)

A couple more links:

#hcsmX groups in Austria, Spain, France, India and broader geographies such as Latin America, Asia, and even Global discussed here

http://stwem.com/2012/02/22/healthcare-social-media-communities-on-twitter/

Healthcare hashtag repository (disclosure: with which I am affiliated, but hey, everything is offered at zero cost anyway) Symplur offer archives, statistics and analysis of the #hcsmX communities and more here (scroll down):

http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/regular/

Not to confuse the issue, but... there is also a fledgling community actually called #hcsmX which is trying to turn conversation into action:

https://twitter.com/#!/hcsmX

Hello Mavis. Thank you for reading- you're ver...

2012-05-17T00:04:29.320+01:00

Hello Mavis. Thank you for reading- you're very welcome. I hope you will submit to some of the future #hcsm reviews.

Very true:)

2012-05-17T00:03:35.389+01:00

Very true:)

Great summary for this newcomer to the field. Than...

2012-05-16T23:59:57.143+01:00

Great summary for this newcomer to the field. Thanks!

If we can't laugh at ourselves, then someone e...

2012-05-16T09:04:52.528+01:00

If we can't laugh at ourselves, then someone else will. This is a brilliant piece by someone who has realised not that asking about ICE is unimportant, but that every consultation is a conversation and none of those ever go by rote. Not ALL consultations will include any direct questioning about ICE in real life and not all should in the exam. Body language, knowledge of the patient, freely volunteered information... they all count too. Time to convince students and trainees, and examiners, of that.
Pip

Anne Marie I have found the posts and thanks for ...

2012-05-11T17:41:16.392+01:00

Anne Marie

I have found the posts and thanks for all your twitter prompting.

Congrats on the new role, and here in Edinburgh I'm involved with person-centred medical systems e.g. Patients Know Best and Cloud4Health and also with Mydex CIC, who empower individuals on the web with personal data stores

Cheers

Alex

Thank you Anne Marie for this article, very though...

2012-05-03T17:17:44.705+01:00

Thank you Anne Marie for this article, very thought-provoking.
At the risk of sounding harsh, my view is that students don't use VLEs for anything that they don't absolutely need simply because most VLEs are badly designed and are not adapted to the students' needs. And that needs to change, because education is increasingly going to happen online.

More on that here: http://jrduboc.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/vle_suck/

Hi Anne, I am fully agree with you that facebook ...

2012-05-02T10:43:14.000+01:00

Hi Anne,

I am fully agree with you that facebook is not only for making friend and having chatting with them. We can use Facebook for learning purpose too. We can set a group in facebooks and share or knowledge with each other.We can also like the most of educational pages from where we can get information and educate ourself with that..

Michigan DUI

Thanks Keith. As I say I think that the group I...

2012-05-01T00:00:04.032+01:00

Thanks Keith. As I say I think that the group I've set up will be a great area to explore these topics with students.
AM

Hello George, Thanks for your comment and the goog...

2012-04-30T23:58:35.351+01:00

Hello George,
Thanks for your comment and the google + discussion. I agree that the characterisation of Facebook as student social space is interesting. Students are signing up to the Facebook group I set up at the weekend pretty quickly so they don't seem to be so worried about this. I think in general that students are a lot more sophisticated than we often seem to suppose they are. I love learning from them!
AM

Ok! So the issue wouldn't be that Facebook was...

2012-04-30T23:50:02.638+01:00

Ok! So the issue wouldn't be that Facebook was an institutionally approved ghetto, or that it was a social space, just that it was Facebook. I can respect that educators are reluctant about legitimising Facebook. I'll let you know how this works out for me.

That's great to hear that's something that...

2012-04-30T23:26:04.907+01:00

That's great to hear that's something that is looking to be added in the future, Natalie!

Re: staff joining the facebook group - I personally wouldn't have a problem with it (other than, as others have mentioned, implicitly endorsing Facebook as a platform - I feel that the university has a duty to provide a platform that all students may use should they choose not to use Facebook). However, I'm not sure many other students in my year would be happy having staff in the group. I am usually quite happy to speak my mind to my tutors / lecturers, which seems to be unusual amongst medical students. As I said in my comment on your more recent blog, I feel that the separation of our 'personal' and 'professional' identities is itself unprofessional - if we behave 'professionally' (read: deferentially) to our seniors' faces, but complain about the course or their teaching behind their back, I personally see this as quite childish and unprofessional. Unfortunately, it seems to be part of the culture of the profession as a whole.

Re: Dundee PRN - I did use it a little (tentatively) when it first appeared, and I think it could have been a fantastic resource, if it had gathered sufficient traction. I think it overcame a lot of the problems that you've identified, Anne Marie, in that it was largely student-run and student-owned, but was a separate space to both the formal educational environment (Blackboard) and students' personal spaces (facebook et al) - and also had lecturer/tutor involvement.

Sadly, that, too, seems to have been wound-down, with a replacement Wordpress version (which doesn't quite fulfil the same role as the wiki it had originally been set up to be - becoming more of a space owned by the medical school) that has yet to become fully functional.