Is it awkward to talk to your preceptor on FB?

[crazybob]

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If you know that your preceptor uses FB and you know your preceptor fairly well, would you talk to him/her on FB? I'm just curious.

I'm gonna put up a poll.

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

If you know that your preceptor uses FB and you know your preceptor fairly well, would you talk to him/her on FB? I'm just curious.

I'm gonna put up a poll.

I would. My first pharmacy preceptor was super cool. He doesn't have facebook though, but I would feel comfortable talking to him on it. He was always cracking jokes, and we'd pull pranks on each other, so I wouldn't mind.

 

[Jbuprepharm]

I don't add profs,period, even if I'm friends with them. It's just not a good idea IMO

But now that I've graduated I've added a couple that I'm friends with

 

[crazybob]

I don't add profs,period, even if I'm friends with them. It's just not a good idea IMO

But now that I've graduated I've added a couple that I'm friends with

Does it feel significantly different when you think about adding them, now that you're not in school anymore?

 

[UNMorBUST]

I would not if they are a current professor.

 

[bacillus1]

I guess it all depends on the preceptor. Facebook is a good tool to figure out schedules and whatnot.

The real question is...is it OK to like a picture on facebook of your preceptor partying... 🙂

I do agree on the not adding professors though.

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

My preceptor wasn't my professor, so I would be okay with adding him. I would never add a professor though. I complain too much about some of them on facebook (which probably isn't a good idea).

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I suggest all of you leave Facebook. I'd delete my account if I wasn't afraid that someone from my past would need me some day and I want a way for people to find me. And I sure as hell wouldn't friend a person from the school on there. No way.

 

[confettiflyer]

As a rule, I don't add people from work or school who are "above" me (ie preceptors, pharmacists at work, coworker techs, etc...)

I made one exception, but I rotated out of that IPPE and that person added me. There are two others I'd add but as a rule I won't actively add them.

I'll add those residents who I'm close with (1st name basis) during my time as a student only after I've graduated, but never a FT faculty member that taught me.

I have complicated FB rules.

 

[crazybob]

As a rule, I don't add people from work or school who are "above" me (ie preceptors, pharmacists at work, coworker techs, etc...)

I made one exception, but I rotated out of that IPPE and that person added me. There are two others I'd add but as a rule I won't actively add them.

I'll add those residents who I'm close with (1st name basis) during my time as a student only after I've graduated, but never a FT faculty member that taught me.

I have complicated FB rules.

So you wouldn't add people who work with you, but you might add them or add them back after you start working somewhere else?

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Sure, and I'm friends with many of my co-workers. Just don't post stupid s&*t and you have no worries.

 

[xiphoid2010]

facebook, myspace, twitter, etc are just giant time-sinks. I got better things to do with my time so, problem solved.

 

[UNMorBUST]

So you wouldn't add people who work with you, but you might add them or add them back after you start working somewhere else?

The key word was "above".

 

[UNMorBUST]

facebook, myspace, twitter, etc are just giant time-sinks. I got better things to do with my time so, problem solved.

LoL what about SDN?

 

[xiphoid2010]

LoL what about SDN?

SDN can be a real time-sink as well, but is also a wealth of info. There is no way I could know the pharmacy's state of affair in other parts states and industry without this forum. 😎

 

[confettiflyer]

SDN can be a real time-sink as well, but is also a wealth of info. There is no way I could know the pharmacy's state of affair in other parts states and industry without this forum. 😎

Nah, Facebook saves me from actually having to interact with my friends. This way, I'm up to date when we DO meet in person. Ultimate time saver.

 

[rxlea]

I LOL'd when I saw this thread. I am FB friends with some profs and preceptors. I don't see the big deal. I don't post anything outlandish and I filter out the things I don't want them to see. 🙂

 

[njac]

I had students friend me on rounds this year. I had to give them crap about that.

 

[Pharmavixen]

I suggest all of you leave Facebook. I'd delete my account if I wasn't afraid that someone from my past would need me some day and I want a way for people to find me. And I sure as hell wouldn't friend a person from the school on there. No way.

I don't get how otherwise intelligent and highly-educated people put up all sorts of stuff that will come back to haunt them should they ever run for office. Or apply for a job. If an old friend looked me up, they might decide not to contact me because my FB is such a boring place: admiring pics of newborns, liking Toronto Cat Rescue, putting up pics of the Oxycontin-shaped cookies I baked for the Christmas party, complaining about how bad the roads are for biking after this winter etc etc etc.

If people want to get into political flame wars, diss religious people, or share totally TMI personal info, there's tons of anonymous fora for that.

But friend students? Or coworkers? No bloody way. My own children won't friend me. I'm not friending any students.

 

[crazybob]

But friend students? Or coworkers? No bloody way. My own children won't friend me. I'm not friending any students.

People think I'm weird for not being FB friends with my siblings

So students and teachers shouldn't communicate via FB?

 

[spacecowgirl]

I think it's weird. I have some coworkers as FB friends but I have them on a special block list that doesn't allow them to see much of anything. I wouldn't have been friends with them at all if they hadn't friended me. I like my coworkers and some of them I like a lot and enough to hang out with outside of work...but some people I would just rather talk to at work only.

 

[rxlea]

I think it's weird. I have some coworkers as FB friends but I have them on a special block list that doesn't allow them to see much of anything. I wouldn't have been friends with them at all if they hadn't friended me. I like my coworkers and some of them I like a lot and enough to hang out with outside of work...but some people I would just rather talk to at work only.

This is what I do. It works out well. I guess I never really post anything that I would feel embarrassed about. Besides, one day, my preceptors/profs will be my colleagues. Maybe it seems weird now but it will be beneficial to stay connected in the future...

I wanted to try that LinkedIn everyone is using but I don't like having my personal info out there. At least I can block Facebook.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I don't post much that would ever land me in trouble, but I do have some strong political views and I do post them on FB. I'd say the same things to the face of anyone on my friends list though.

 

[KARM12]

I didn't become FB friends with profs or preceptors until I was done with school/residency. I just think it is better that way. I know one school had a policy that profs couldn't be FB friends with students until they graduated.

 

[Pharmavixen]

People think I'm weird for not being FB friends with my siblings

So students and teachers shouldn't communicate via FB?

Two of my friends are teachers, and they've said it's the policy of the school board to NOT friend students. I personally think it can be fine, depending on your settings, though I'd rather not.

 

[crazybob]

Two of my friends are teachers, and they've said it's the policy of the school board to NOT friend students. I personally think it can be fine, depending on your settings, though I'd rather not.

I agree. But sometimes I wonder about my classmates' ability to actually care enough about the settings, and to be selective about friends they add, and the information they share.

 

[njac]

I didn't become FB friends with profs or preceptors until I was done with school/residency. I just think it is better that way. I know one school had a policy that profs couldn't be FB friends with students until they graduated.

👍

I did not become friends with my personal director until she was no longer my director - I don't friend preceptors until I am done with their rotation.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I didn't become FB friends with profs or preceptors until I was done with school/residency. I just think it is better that way. I know one school had a policy that profs couldn't be FB friends with students until they graduated.

Our school prohibits faculty-student FB connections. So I'll probably need to clean up my friends list when I start my residency. I'm "friends" with several students in the class below me and will probably remove the ones I am not "real life" friends with and keep the ones with whom I have genuine real world connections.

I did not become friends with my personal director until she was no longer my director - I don't friend preceptors until I am done with their rotation.

I am FB friends with two of my 8 APPE preceptors. But they are also longtime coworkers with whom I had prior personal/professional relationships. I wouldn't add a preceptor to my friends list otherwise. I just think there are too many weird/awkward possibilities.

 

[TemSirolimus]

Everything considered, for the most part, Facebook is full of fail.

 

[Ackj]

My own children won't friend me.

I'd be wary of this. My cousin won't be friends with my aunt (her mother) because FB is full of pictures of my cousin partying. Since they're not friends, my aunt doesn't see these pictures and is oblivious to the whole thing. Of course I don't know you/your family, so I could be far off base here, but maybe there's a reason they won't friend you.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I'd be wary of this. My cousin won't be friends with my aunt (her mother) because FB is full of pictures of my cousin partying. Since they're not friends, my aunt doesn't see these pictures and is oblivious to the whole thing. Of course I don't know you/your family, so I could be far off base here, but maybe there's a reason they won't friend you.

I think adult children are perfectly within their rights not to friend their parents. I sometimes wish I hadn't friended one of my relatives because he sees things I post in my status updates (which are usually just harmless venting/griping) and immediately CALLS me to see if I'm ok. Annoying.

Now, minor children on Facebook? Different story. Mine will definitely friend me and most likely I will have their password and full access to their profile until they are older teenagers and have been proven responsible. I see WAY too much inappropriate behavior amongst the teenage children of some of my friends. Kids don't have good judgment about this stuff and need parental guidance.

And don't get me started on VERY young kids with Facebook accounts. They just use fake birthdates to get around the age restrictions. I have actually called a friend in the middle of the night (2AMish) to tell her that her EIGHT YEAR OLD daughter was playing some drinking game app and sending out invitations to video chat. Maybe that makes me lame, but I'd want to know if I were that parent. (Of course, my 8 year old would not be up at 2AM playing unsupervised on the internet, but that's another story...)

 

[Pharmavixen]

My girls are 13 and 16. Their FBs are pretty innocuous, judging from the times they've borrowed my laptop and forgotten to log off. I think they're being typical teenagers, squicked by mum possibly reading their posts. And I figure they want to use profane language.

My FB is family (except my own children) and people who are my friends in RL. If I wanted/needed a professional social network, I suppose I'd join Linkedin.

 

[Ackj]

I think adult children are perfectly within their rights not to friend their parents. I sometimes wish I hadn't friended one of my relatives because he sees things I post in my status updates (which are usually just harmless venting/griping) and immediately CALLS me to see if I'm ok. Annoying.

I love having my mother (and now recently grandmother) on facebook, since we can share pictures easily and it's just another easy way to stay in touch since I've moved. On the other hand, my girlfriend's mother can post some embarrassing statuses from time to time, but still harmless really.

 

[crazybob]

What if your preceptor's family member added you on FB after meeting you in person? Is it still weird?

 

[Dalteparin]

I didn't become FB friends with profs or preceptors until I was done with school/residency. I just think it is better that way. I know one school had a policy that profs couldn't be FB friends with students until they graduated.

This. Facebook is for fun, not for work. Having a current student (or supervisor) on my friends list would just make things awkward.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Preceptors are fine to add once the rotation is over.
Professors are fine to add once you graduate.
Simple really.

 

[owlegrad]

It will be a cold day in hell before I add a professor on fb.

 

[rxlea]

It will be a cold day in hell before I add a professor on fb.

Well, it IS only 90 degrees in Tucson at the end of May (highly unusual). Is that cold enough?

 

[owlegrad]

Well, it IS only 90 degrees in Tucson at the end of May (highly unusual). Is that cold enough?

I just checked my fb page - apparently not. 😆

 

[crazybob]

Preceptors are fine to add once the rotation is over.
Professors are fine to add once you graduate.
Simple really.

But what about other pharmacists who are neither one?

Would it depend on what kind of pharmacists they are and what kind of settings they work?

 

[MindOverMatter]

But what about other pharmacists who are neither one?

Would it depend on what kind of pharmacists they are and what kind of settings they work?

Same rules would apply. You would have to wait until your rotation is over to add anyone from the site.