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Social Media in Stroke Career Development

2023; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 54; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1161/strokeaha.122.039969

1524-4628

Michael McAree, Vera Sharashidze,

Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare

HomeStrokeVol. 54, No. 6Social Media in Stroke Career Development Free AccessResearch ArticlePDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessResearch ArticlePDF/EPUBSocial Media in Stroke Career Development Michael McAree and Vera Sharashidze Michael McAreeMichael McAree New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY. and Vera SharashidzeVera Sharashidze Correspondence to: Vera Sharashidze, MD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 626 1st Ave, New York, NY 10016. Email E-mail Address: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-1878 New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY. Originally published4 May 2023https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.039969Stroke. 2023;54:e243–e245Other version(s) of this articleYou are viewing the most recent version of this article. Previous versions: May 4, 2023: Ahead of Print Worldwide digital progress and the evolution of social media have fundamentally changed the way health care professionals connect with patients, public, and each other. More than 90% of physicians use some form of social media for personal activities, with ~65% using these platforms for professional reasons.1 Examples of prominent social media platforms include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and many more. Twitter, for example, has been very popular in the field of stroke and is one of the largest blogging platforms available. Users can post information via tweets and retweet posts of other users that they find valuable, making novel and current recent medical discoveries accessible to the public. Facebook utilizes live streaming capabilities for individuals to participate in virtual meetings while also acting as a forum for individuals to share medical images and videos. Finally, YouTube is a video streaming platform that various educators use to share and promote knowledge transfer in medical education. Social media is an effective tool for vascular neurologists to acquire health-related literature quickly and acts as an avenue to disseminate new knowledge and research. It also provides an opportunity for networking, career development, and collaboration among colleagues in the stroke community.Table 1. Popular Social Media Platforms and Description of UsePlatformDescriptionTwitterMicroblogging platform that allows users to generate tweets to share content ranging from academic to pop culture.FacebookSocial networking platform that allows users to cultivate and maintain personal connections through status updates, chat, photos, videos.YouTubePlatform centered on creating channels and playlists for the sharing of various types of video content.InstagramAn application that emphasizes sharing photos and short clips, allowing users to like certain accounts by acting as followers.LinkedInProfessional networking platform that allows users to connect with others within their desired field and market themselves for career advancement.EducationSocial media is a significant source of education for learners and professionals in stroke. One example is the World Stroke Academy, an electronic learning platform that disseminates educational materials in various forms, including podcasts, webinars, case studies, learning modules, and conference webcasts to enhance the knowledge of stroke-related topics. Additionally, they have taken to Twitter and frequently create Tweetorials. One of the significant challenges with posting educational content on Twitter is the 280-character limit. The stroke community overcomes this limitation by creating Tweetorials or threads of related tweets that can teach critical concepts, critique research, or highlight educational best practices. An article in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education went as far as to explain the anatomy of a Tweetorial. A user typically begins with an initial tweet to attract an audience and establish the thread's goal. The subsequent tweets provide a narrative and are used to engage readers through polls, visuals, and links. Finally, the closing tweet summarizes the primary learning points and takeaway messages.2Social media has been invaluable for trainees and early-career professionals who gain access to the expert's opinions outside of their institutions with the unique ability to connect with colleagues around the world, which used to be restricted only to conferences in the past.ResearchSocial media plays a role in the dissemination of new knowledge and current stroke research. Frequently, journals require readers to have subscriptions to access full articles and content. Economic costs of access to journals, especially for low- and middle-income countries, may be overcome by well-supervised social media posting. A notable organization with a social media presence that publishes peer-reviewed research on cerebral circulation includes Stroke American Heart Asscociation (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA; @StrokeAHA_ASA). With over 18 000 tweets and over 26 000 followers, Stroke AHA/ASA establishes a significant social media presence by retweeting and posting reader-friendly pictorials that summarize important outcomes of various studies.3 Additionally, social media allows for immediate feedback and commentary in the medical literature.Studies have also assessed social media's impact on citations in health care research. The article analyzing highly cited physicians on social networking web sites found a positive correlation between social media presence, citation number, and the h-index.4 Another team also analyzed the role of social media in clinical trial recruitment. The team found that the utilization of social media resulted in the highest recruitment rates in 7 of 20 studies and the highest enrollment rates in 9 of 28. They also found that social media resulted in the lowest cost per enrolled participant in 4 of 19 studies. However, data reported about social media outcomes varied greatly across studies, obscuring the ability to evaluate whether certain studies would benefit more from social media.5NetworkingSocial media plays a role in networking among members of the stroke community. It allows physicians and scientists to have discussions internationally. One of the tools available for trainees is Blogging Stroke, a forum for early-career vascular neurologists and neuroscientists to highlight recent studies published in Stroke and other similar journals. An analysis was performed to assess whether Blogging Stroke was instrumental in the professional development of trainees and providing a platform for professional networking. Results of the study demonstrated that 39% of bloggers found that blogging helped them stay up to date with current science, and 48% of the respondents found that blogging impacted their practice habits and clinical skills. Interestingly, those working in an academic setting were more likely to describe blogging as beneficial for career development. While this was a small study, it demonstrates the value of social media for residents and fellows.6Additionally, the benefits of social media in medical education have been assessed in systematic reviews, including improved learner engagement, feedback, collaboration, and professional development. Some even created Twitter-based journal clubs so that students and residents could communicate and learn from field experts that they would not have had access to otherwise.7 Overall, social media has facilitated an environment where neurology residents, stroke fellows, and attending physicians with similar interests can easily connect and collaborate.Patient InformationIn addition to networking among health care professionals, social media has played a huge role in connecting patients affected by stroke. As stroke can be a very disabling and isolating illness, with sequelae that may be challenging to deal with, it is imperative to establish robust support systems for patients and their caregivers. The Stroke Survivors Foundation (@strokesurvivors) and Stroke&Community Group (@SUEvivorGroup) hope to provide networking opportunities for rehabilitation and support for stroke survivors and their caregivers. Protecting patients' identities and health care data is another sensitive topic in social media use. For example, tweeting neuroimaging and angiographic data results should require patient consent. Today, artificial intelligence reconstruction of a patient's face is possible using magnetic resonance imaging data only. Therefore, confidentiality should always be addressed when discussing social media use in health care.Limitations of Social MediaWhen using social media in health care, potential limitations include the dissemination of inaccurate or biased information. Social media tools remain informal, unregulated mechanisms for information collection, sharing, and promotion, so the information is of varying quality and consistency. One of the limitations to be discussed is the lack of proofreading of publications, which cannot only be biased but also not disclose potential conflicts of interest generally addressed by formal education methods like journals and books.8 One systematic review found that in a sample of 625 health-related tweets across a span of 5 days, 51.2% contained incorrect information.9 Another study assessed social media publication bias, demonstrating that physicians are more likely to tweet and publicize favorable outcomes.10 The lack of early-career professionals' ability to interpret this potentially biased information and translate it into practice can negatively impact patient care. Furthermore, the information posted on social media is in the public domain and stays documented in the virtual space permanently. Finally, it is critical for health care professionals to be extremely cautious to protect patient privacy.ConclusionsSocial media has created a paradigm shift for stroke education and career development. It has empowered trainees and early-career faculty with accessibility to the latest scientific information, opportunities for networking and collaboration, and expanding the reach of scientific congresses and meetings. In addition, it provides means to disseminate work globally instantaneously. A critical area of discussion is the medical community's awareness and exposure to innovations in caring for patients with stroke. Education and exposure to these technological innovations via social media continue to prime the field for further advancement and improve patient care. While limitations of social media remain present, including the dissemination of biased information, the democratization of health care information demonstrates promise for the delivery quality care to patients.Article InformationDisclosures None.FootnotesFor Disclosures, see page e245.The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the editors or of the American Heart Association.Correspondence to: Vera Sharashidze, MD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 626 1st Ave, New York, NY 10016. Email Vera.[email protected]orgReferences1. Ventola CL. Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices.P T. 2014; 39:491–520.Google Scholar2. Breu AC, Abrams HR, Manning KD, Cooper AZ. Tweetorials for medical educators.J Grad Med Educ. 2021; 13:723–725. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-21-00767.1CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. Wang J, Bai X, Wang T, Dmytriw AA, Patel AB, Jiao L. Carotid stenting versus endarterectomy for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Stroke. 2022; 53:3047. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.038994LinkGoogle Scholar4. Ramezani-Pakpour-Langeroudi F, Okhovati M, Talebian A. Do highly cited clinicians get more citations when being present at social networking sites?.J Educ Health Promot. 2018; 7:18. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_69_17CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. Darmawan I, Bakker C, Brockman TA, Patten CA, Eder M. The role of social media in enhancing clinical trial recruitment: scoping review.J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22:e22810. doi: 10.2196/22810CrossrefGoogle Scholar6. Das S, O'Connor K, McLouth CJ. Benefits of being a stroke blogger: a cross-sectional survey of past bloggers.Stroke. 2022; 53:e234–e236. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.036924LinkGoogle Scholar7. Katz M, Nandi N. Social media and medical education in the context of the covid-19 pandemic: scoping review.JMIR Med Educ. 2021; 7:e25892. doi: 10.2196/25892CrossrefGoogle Scholar8. Moorhead SA, Hazlett DE, Harrison L, Carroll JK, Irwin A, Hoving C. A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication.J Med Internet Res. 2013; 15:e85. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1933CrossrefGoogle Scholar9. Alnemer KA, Alhuzaim WM, Alnemer AA, Alharbi BB, Bawazir AS, Barayyan OR, Balaraj FK, et al. Are health-related tweets evidence based? Review and analysis of health-related tweets on twitter.J Med Internet Res. 2015; 17:e246. doi: 10.2196/jmir.4898CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. Dmytriw AA, Sorenson TJ, Morris JM, Nicholson PJ, Hilditch CA, Graffeo CS, Brinjikji W, et al. #fake news: a systematic review of mechanical thrombectomy results among neurointerventional stroke surgeons on twitter.J Neurointerv Surg. 2019; 11:460–463. doi: 10.1136/neurintsurg-2018-014319CrossrefGoogle Scholar Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails June 2023Vol 54, Issue 6 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics © 2023 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.039969PMID: 37139819 Originally publishedMay 4, 2023 Keywordssocial mediaeducationstrokeresearchPDF download Advertisement SubjectsCerebrovascular Disease/StrokeIschemic Stroke