A national cross-sectional survey of social networking practices of U.S. anesthesiology residency program directors

• Published in: Journal of clinical anesthesia 2012-12, Vol.24 (8), p.618-624
• Main Authors: Barker, Andrew L., MD, Wehbe-Janek, Hania, PhD, Bhandari, Naumit S., MD, Bittenbinder, Timothy M., MD, Jo, ChanHee, PhD, McAllister, Russell K., MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia & Perioperative Care; Anesthesiology - education; Anesthesiology residency training; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data Collection; Humans; Internet; Internship and Residency - statistics & numerical data; Medical ethics; Organizational Policy; Pain Medicine; Professionalism; Social Media - statistics & numerical data; Social networking; Social networks; United States
• ISSN: 0952-8180; 1873-4529
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2012.06.002

Abstract Study Objective To determine the social networking practices of directors of anesthesiology residency programs. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Online and paper survey tool. Subjects 132 anesthesiology residency program directors in the United States. Measurements A 13-item survey including dichotomous and multiple choice responses was administered using an online survey tool and a paper survey. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive and analytical statistics (chi-square test). A P -value < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Main Results 50% of anesthesiology program directors responded to the survey (66/132). Policies governing social networking practices were in place for 30.3% (n=20) of the programs’ hospitals. The majority of program directors (81.8%, 54) reported never having had an incident involving reprimand of a resident or fellow for inappropriate social networking practices. The majority (66.7%, n=44) of responding programs reported that departments did not provide lectures or educational activities related to appropriate social networking practices. Monitoring of social networking habits of residents/fellows by program directors mainly occurs if they are alerted to a problem (54.5%, n=36). Frequent use of the Internet for conducting searches on a resident applicant was reported by 12.1% (n=8) of program directors, 30.3% (n=20) reported use a few times, and 57.6% (n=38) reported never using the Internet in this capacity. Conclusion Residency programs should have a written policy related to social media use. Residency program directors should be encouraged to become familiar with the professionalism issues related to social media use in order to serve as adequate resident mentors within this new and problematic aspect of medical ethics and professionalism.