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. 2021 Oct 27;13(10):e19081.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.19081. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Social Media in Physician Education

Yingyot Arora  1 , Noah Llaneras  2 , Nyanika Arora  3 , Roger Carillo  4
Affiliations

Social Media in Physician Education

Yingyot Arora et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background Social media has fundamentally changed the practice of medicine. It has taken the medical community by storm, benefited patient care, and has become a leading source for distributing medical information. Social media platforms are a low-cost, low-barrier entry means for health systems to highlight their competitive advantage to patients and providers alike. This study aimed to assess the role of social media in the education of physicians. Methods To evaluate the utility of social media in engaging physicians, four vignettes were utilized to highlight Class 1 indications for transvenous lead extraction (TLE), an electrophysiology procedure aimed at removing infected or damaged cardiac device leads. Individuals, via Twitter, were presented with cases and multiple-choice response options to determine the next best step in management. Results The clinical vignettes were seen by more than 18,000 individuals worldwide. Survey results indicated that 83% of individuals who participated had correctly identified class 1 indications for this life-saving procedure. Sixteen percent to 21% of physicians incorrectly identified the next step in the management of Class 1 indications for lead extraction, representing a need for education and an opportunity to inform and educate. Conclusion Social media may be a useful tool in physician education. However, guidelines and further research are needed to continue to understand the role of social media within the medical field.

Keywords: cardiac electrophysiology; guidelines in medicine; online medical education; pacemaker lead extraction; pacemaker lead fracture; pacemaker lead infection; social media communication.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Case 1: Appropriate diagnostic imaging for suspected lead perforation
Figure 2
Figure 2. Case 2: Next step in the management of pocket infections
Figure 3
Figure 3. Case 3: Indications for emergent lead extraction
Figure 4
Figure 4. Case 4: Extraction of superfluous leads and management of Twiddler Syndrome
Figure 5
Figure 5. Case 1 results
Figure 6
Figure 6. Case 2 results
Figure 7
Figure 7. Case 3 results
Figure 8
Figure 8. Case 4 results
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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