Twitter and Emergency Medicine

Twitter has quickly become a popular medium for academic physicians to connect with audiences around the world. Emergency medicine, in particular, has really embraced the platform, and many of our faculty and residents here at OSU are active Tweeters. As a medical student, learning to use this platform can be a unique way to interact with other learners and educators all over the world, and also learn more about different residency programs and hear opinions from the people at those institutions. Here are some ground rules (really just the basics):

 

  1. Keep it professional. You may want to consider making a new twitter if your current profile has vestiges of your teenage years. Use a neutral twitter handle; some folks like to make theirs related to medicine, but some combination of first/last name is enough to be professional. Professional headshots are nice, but not necessary for your profile.
  2. Be nice to each other. Twitter is no place to throw passive aggressive (or just aggressive) slants at others anonymously on the internet. You’ll see it happen, but it’s poor form either way.
  3. There are a TON of quality educational materials on Twitter (check out the #FOAMed hashtag). I have learned about lots of current medical topics just by browsing my news feed for a few minutes each day. However, be sure to verify the sources of these topics (or better yet, read the primary literature) before applying this info to your practice of medicine. You never want to get into a debate with a resident or attending about a medical topic and cite twitter as your source.

 

Now that’s out of the way, Twitter is useful for a few reasons. First, it again provides an opportunity to glean medical education pearls. Just follow a few attendings from academic EM programs and you’ll be introduced to discussions about hot-button topics and the most current literature in the specialty. Twitter has a unique way of taking a complex topic or lengthy research paper and distilling it into the highest yield 280 characters that best summarize the main points – just be sure to take a glance at the primary lit too! Next, twitter provides a great forum for discussion of the non-clinical side of medicine. From career guidance and mentorship, to discussions on physician burnout, there are communities at the ready to discuss and provide support at every stage of training. These discussions provide valuable insight into aspects of medicine that may not be commonly discussed in the classroom, or during clinical shifts. Twitter provides space to engage in these conversations, or at least garner perspectives of many others in the field who may share similar challenges during the course of their professional career.  Lastly, use the platform to share medical pearls you’ve picked up along the course of your training! Learn something on your shift or in a textbook that surprised you today? Write a tweet about it, and it’ll not only help reinforce the concept in your own learning, but it may teach something to another learner down the line. This is a great way to share tips and tricks between institutions, and pass on skills that will ultimately help improve the care we provide to our patients. Get signed up for Twitter today and check out the hashtags #FOAMed and #Medtwitter to dive into the conversation.

 

Authors: Arthur Broadstock, Nicholas Kman MD FACEP