About a year ago I used to share a house with a maths teacher. He was quite vociferous in his refusal to sign up to Facebook for fear of the numerous negative connotations it could ensure. Back in February the National Association of Head Teachers suggested that every school should have guidelines for how teachers should behave on social networks.
"You're used to a much more relaxed environment at university where what you say and do doesn't matter so much, then you're suddenly into a place where you've got people expecting you to be role models," they said.
New research has explored the similar question of whether doctors should befriend their patients on social networks. The study suggested that usage of Facebook et al by physicians, residents and medical students blurred the the lines between personal and professional lives.
The researchers conducted a survey into social media use amongst the medical profession. 79% of medical school academics said that it was wrong to befriend students.
Another study looked at how they behave when actually practising medicine. The study asked French doctors how they respond to friend requests from patients. 85% of the docs said they'd ignore a patients 'Friend' request regardless of who it was, 15% said they'd decide on a case-by-case basis.
Reasons for rejecting a friend request ranged from it being unprofessional to fear that the patient had romantic intentions.
Crossing the line or busting the mystique?
Is there some protocol that shouldn't be breached in the patient-doctor relationship in terms of socializing, or social media relations?
Or is there value in removing the white-coated mystique of social and professional stature that surrounds doctors so that we view them as people with human characteristics?
For me, whenever you start to get anxcious about nefarious use of technology, you should repeat as many times as required "IT IS NOT ABOUT THE TOOLS"
For that's all Facebook and other social media are. They're tools, and they're tools that aren't going to go away. Rather than shy away from using them, it's much better to tackle the subject head-on and educate both sides of the relationship on appropriate use.
So for teachers education should be given to both pupils and teachers on how they should behave responsibly on social media. Likewise between doctors and patients. Digital communications do and will provide the glue for richer interpersonal connections and personal development both personally and professionally.
I can't think of any reason why I'd want to, unless of course I was friends with them already.
I'll second that. The only time I can really think of was if I was seeing them an awful lot and having them close to hand would be useful. I suspect that would require a pretty major shift in how the relationship is handled though.
That's possible. You'd need to have clear guidelines over both how and when patients could contact you, and what constitutes actual advice. I can easily imagine a comment on Facebook being taken as advice and things getting messy.
As with real life though, for the Doctor should just treat each case individually. I can't imagine you'd befriend every patient that came into your treatment room so there's no reason for you to do so on Facebook. It's a social network after all, with the emphasis on the social part. Better communication and enhanced transparency however are something that the medical profession could improve.
A big no from me. I can't see a reason for it and would lead to lots of professional concerns.
Interesting story here about a doctor in LA that does this.
"I think people want to see us as more than a white coat twice a year," said Frederick, 51. "They want to know what we read; what we think about things. They want to know about our families, and … that creates a bond."
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/doctor-social…
Hmm, that is interesting. Good find Rob. Can't seem to find him on Twitter though.
Interesting piece on Mashable today about a 'Facebook for doctors'
http://mashable.com/2012/02/07/doximity/
Physicians are recommended not to befriend patients on social media by the American College of Physicians and Federation of State Medical Boards.
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/04/14/Physici…