Facebook and Medicine

Wow. Facebook made it to the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Sachin H. Jain discusses some issues pertaining to professionalism when a former patient "friended" her on Facebook.

With so much personal information on social networking sites, does accepting people who aren't really your "friends" blur the lines beyond what is appropriate? Is this unprofessional? There are people out there who speculate that employers and admissions officers now scan Facebook and MySpace pages to glean information about their future proteges. Are patients also doing the same? What are the potential legal implications of this?

I advise students to be very careful with their on line personas and identities. While the Facebook generation is open and less formal than some of their more senior educators, your professional reputation starts before you matriculate in medical school and you don't want to do anything that might tarnish your image. Also, once you enter medical school, you represent the medical profession as a whole. So, think before you confirm a "friend" or post an incriminating photo. Or maybe it is time to just take down that profile.

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Facebook: Do Admissions Officers Look?

An article today in the Wall Street Journal reports on the results of a survey submitted to admissions officers of 500 highly selective colleges. The survey asked if admissions officers looked at social networking sites to help them evaluate applicants. 10% of respondents said they did look at sites such as Facebook and 38% of those said that this negatively impacted their views of the applicant.

While a similar survey has not been sent to medical school and residency admissions officers (as far as I know), these results are intriguing. It is best to keep your Facebook and MySpace pages clean. Assume that admissions officers are looking. To be safe, post photos that you would use on your application and only write about things that you would be comfortable discussing on interviews. Also be sure to use privacy settings so posts can't be viewed by the general public.

Along the same lines, make sure you have a respectable email address since most communications with schools and program directors are done via email.

This article is available free online for 7 days: Click Here to read the article.

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