Medical School, Residency and Social Media

Do admissions officers look at Facebook? Are they on Twitter? Do they google applicants? Do they read the Student Doctor Network forums? Yes.

I find that many applicants are paranoid about what might be discovered about them on line. Take control. Why not make your virtual persona someone of whom you would be proud? Follow respectable people and organizations on Twitter. Create a blog where you showcase your writing, ideas or advocate for good causes. Create a public Facebook profile that any admissions officer would love. Leverage your on line presence to your advantage so that when someone "finds you," they will be impressed.

Social media is so new that many medical schools and hospitals are forming committees to discuss how to manage this technology. For example, a group of residents at a major medical center recently published a video on Facebook that was obviously created while "on the job." This was discovered by the hospital leadership and caused a cascade of events causing the hospital to examine their "policies" regarding social media. So, be careful. Seemingly innocent postings can sometimes lead to unforeseen consequences.

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