Facebook & Professionalism

[farnk20]

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The most recent thread I've found on this was in 2009, so I figured I'd bring it up again.

An adcom at a school I recently interviewed at said that most "unprofessional behavior" is a result of either Facebook or alcohol-related violations. As regards the first, it's important to keep your online rep clean because of admissions, anyone can see it, yada yada yada. In terms of actual professionalism, however, what changes about Facebook etiquette once you actually are in medical school/become a physician? Is it over the line to friend patients? To defriend friends who become patients? To post anything controversial? To post funny videos that may be offensive? To make your relationship status/religious beliefs/political beliefs/interested in viewable? Personally, I try to keep my number of friends to only a few people I know fairly well, but I'm interested in what other people think about this, and how you intend to change/not change your online presence when you get in somewhere.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

The most recent thread I've found on this was in 2009, so I figured I'd bring it up again.

An adcom at a school I recently interviewed at said that most "unprofessional behavior" is a result of either Facebook or alcohol-related violations. As regards the first, it's important to keep your online rep clean because of admissions, anyone can see it, yada yada yada. In terms of actual professionalism, however, what changes about Facebook etiquette once you actually are in medical school/become a physician? Is it over the line to friend patients? To defriend friends who become patients? To post anything controversial? To post funny videos that may be offensive? To make your relationship status/religious beliefs/political beliefs/interested in viewable? Personally, I try to keep my number of friends to only a few people I know fairly well, but I'm interested in what other people think about this, and how you intend to change/not change your online presence when you get in somewhere.

My thoughts on social media in medicine:

1) Assume anything you put online is discoverable, regardless of your privacy settings. In the age of things "going viral" (e.g. the twitter girl who made the AIDS joke), if the wrong person finds something stupid you posted on your Facebook page about hating a patient, getting so drunk the night before being on call, etc, you could be (in)famous.

2) Assume anything you put online is permanent. Just look at the CNN homepage today, where someone unearthed years old comments made by the Duck Dynasty guy to add more fuel to the fire.

3) Never friend patients (or follow them on twitter, etc). Or family of patients. Just don't.

4) Whether it's fair or not, doctors get held to a higher standard than other professions. So I go out of my way to avoid posting anything politically or religiously controversial, I don't put pictures of myself partying or drinking on there, etc.

Facebook is supposed to be "personal life" not business life - but unfortunately those lines are increasingly blurred. So I really limit my content on there a lot - there is little to be gained, and a lot to be lost.

 

[OphthoBio]

I've known people (not going into medicine, but business or some other field) that have had employers tell them that they've seen their social media posts. It hasn't cost any one of them the job, but their bosses have told them that it's not acceptable behavior while their employed by that particular business.

If you wouldn't want your grandmother to see it, don't post it.

 

[Plecopotamus]

The ama has addressed this. It is not verboten to interact w patient's etc. on social media w/ the same standards you use for interaction off social media, but they suggest having a different account to do this (& assume everything in your private account could become un-private). I believe you are not supposed to "friend" patients on the professional account, but rather let them friend you to prevent privacy violations (& it's ethical to remind them that others would see any info they post & that it's not a forum for personal health advice).

http://www.ama-assn.org//ama/pub/ph...l-ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion9124.page

 

[Ismet]

We are instructed to maintain professionalism in all aspects, including Facebook, as medical students and future physicians. That's not to say that things like pictures with alcoholic drinks in hand are completely off limits, as we are adults, but everything should be in good taste.

 

[Mad Jack]

Keep your Facebook between you and your friends. Don't make it public, that's just inviting trouble. Anyone can tag pictures of you doing whatever. You essentially have no control over what goes online from your life, so just keep your profile on lockdown. The only way a person can even search for me is if they are a friend of a friend.

Don't friend patients.

Don't treat your friends.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

We've been told to also maintain professionalism in all aspects. As @Ismet said, exercise common sense - things such as alcoholic drinks and whatnot are OK. But you doing a keg stand might not go over well.

We were also told a story where a med student was out one night, wearing no COM identifying clothing when somebody came up to them to say hi because they remembered them as the student who saw them when they were in the hospital. He was thankfully not belligerently drunk or anything like that, but you get the idea.

You never know. To some people, you become the face of the school/hospital/etc. - the stakes are definitely raised.

 

[chillaxbro]

Also beware of what you post on SDN

 

[darkjedi]

I've had interviewees friend me on facebook, which was strange...

 

[justAstudent]

I've had interviewees friend me on facebook, which was strange...

It's a trap!

 

[sharkbyte]

My thoughts on social media in medicine:

1) Assume anything you put online is discoverable, regardless of your privacy settings. In the age of things "going viral" (e.g. the twitter girl who made the AIDS joke), if the wrong person finds something stupid you posted on your Facebook page about hating a patient, getting so drunk the night before being on call, etc, you could be (in)famous.

2) Assume anything you put online is permanent. Just look at the CNN homepage today, where someone unearthed years old comments made by the Duck Dynasty guy to add more fuel to the fire.

3) Never friend patients (or follow them on twitter, etc). Or family of patients. Just don't.

4) Whether it's fair or not, doctors get held to a higher standard than other professions. So I go out of my way to avoid posting anything politically or religiously controversial, I don't put pictures of myself partying or drinking on there, etc.

Facebook is supposed to be "personal life" not business life - but unfortunately those lines are increasingly blurred. So I really limit my content on there a lot - there is little to be gained, and a lot to be lost.

Adding to #'s 1 and 2: I took a small class called "Preparation for the Clinical Experience" and professionalism was one of the topics we discussed. The professors (who were EM docs) presented actual examples of colleagues they knew who got fired for complaining about patients on Facebook, even though a) they didn't include any potential identifiers and b) their privacy settings were max or almost max.

Bottom line, don't take a chance. Keep your Facebook/Twitter/whatever clean and don't post anything controversial. Nowadays you can uncover anything regardless of privacy settings or whatnot.

 

[astromfs]

I've had interviewees friend me on facebook, which was strange...

I would tap, they said.

 

[Planes2Doc]

My rule of thumb: Don't post anything you wouldn't show your mother.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

My rule of thumb: Don't post anything you wouldn't show your mother.

Since my parents joined Facebook, this has unfortunately become a rule that I 100% have to follow...

 

[SunsFun]

Who uses Facebook anymore? It's all about Instagram.

 

[JGimpel]

 

[Quizlet04]

You can change your information just enough so it becomes harder for people to search for you. My real name is slightly rare but I've swapped it to one that's more common on FB. Use a lot of pseudonyms and generally be careful.

 

[Aerus]

Since my parents joined Facebook, this has unfortunately become a rule that I 100% have to follow...

Luckily, my mom asked my siblings and I whether she should join Facebook before actually trying it out, so we had the chance to make it sound hellishly confusing, complicated, and unnecessary, so she won't be joining anytime soon. 😛