25% of medical students use Facebook for education - with mixed success

This Australian study aimed to evaluate how effectively medical students may be using Facebook for education.

Researchers surveyed 759 medical students at one Melbourne university, and explored the design and conduct of 4 Facebook study groups.

25.5% of students reported using Facebook for education-related reasons and another 50.0% said they were open to doing so.

The case studies showed conservative approaches in students' efforts to support their development of medical knowledge and mixed successes.

The study authors concluded that Facebook as part of learning and teaching is as much of a challenge for many students as it may be for most educators.

References:

Medical students' use of Facebook to support learning: Insights from four case studies. Gray K, Annabell L, Kennedy G. Med Teach. 2010;32(12):971-6.

Assistant professor uses Twitter to teach students dental anatomy at Ohio State University - 113 of 200 students signed up, 56% http://goo.gl/jvyq7

Nursing student successfully challenges dissmissal from school because of Facebook photo

A Kansas college is facing a legal challenge over its dismissal of a nursing student who posted online a photograph of a human placenta studied in class - the WSJ video is embedded above.

The lawsuit includes a letter that Ms. Byrnes wrote to the college apologizing for what she called a "lapse in judgment" but asking that she not be dismissed.

The school said the four students are allowed to reapply to continue their nursing studies in August 2011.

Most reader comments on the story follow this pattern: "I fail to see why this posting should result in dismissal from school. The student broke no confidentiality, and the posting was certainly not obscene."

References:
Odd Facebook Post Leads to Student's Ouster, Suit. WSJ.

Doctors use Facebook Pages to connect with patients

With a 500-million large audience, many practices find that creating a Facebook presence can be an easy -- and free -- way to stay in touch with patients or attract new ones.

Businesses, including physician practices, can create something similar: pages (previously "fan pages"). Anyone on Facebook who elects to "become a fan" or like your page receives, on his or her own home page, any updates, photos, videos or Web links that you post.

Rather than having patients "friend" you on Facebook, you can direct them to this page. Having a moderator is important, because having someone dedicated to responding to people makes them feel more connected and encourages respectful and on topic discussions.

References:
Amednews: How Facebook fan pages can connect with patients.

Facebook Pages Manual.pdf - File Shared from Box.net via @sandnsurf.

10 Easy Ways to Enhance Your Facebook Page. Web Worrker Daily, 2010.

Image source: Wikipedia.

Updated: 07/15/2010

How do you keep up with health news?

Steve Rubel asks How do you keep up with industry news - RSS, email newsletters, Twitter, Facebook or other (elaborate)? He now primarily uses newsletters, Twitter and Facebook to follow several dozen sources. He uses his RSS reader as an archive:

http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream

This does not work very well for me. Google Reader is still one of my primary sources for health information - I channel Twitter feeds, YouTube subscriptions, Flickr and podcasts through it as well.

The RSS reader collects all rich media in one place - a true "inbox for the web". The disjointed approach described by Steve Rubel above can be confusing to many and a time-waster to even more. Everybody has their own preferences, of course.

For example, Steve abandoned his popular blog MicroPersuation to move to life-stream, then Facebook. Alternatively, I decided to stay with my blogs and send their updates to Twitter and Facebook. My blog is still my home on the web. You can build a professional profile on LinkedIn, Google and (may be) on Facebook but I decided to keep a separate website just for profile information. You can build it for free on Blogger.com by Google, control every aspect of it, and the only expense is the fee for domain registration ($10).

Comments from Google Buzz:

Tim Sturgill - I've started to use GR as you are for Twitter. I wish Twitter had RSS for direct messages as well.

Vamsi Balakrishnan - I use Google Reader for my news sites (both tech and health). And, for the individual people I follow, like you, I'd use my Buzz. Every few days I log on to Twitter to check messages / replies / etc.

Lakshman Swamy - GR and buzz!