Social Media in Surgery: The Golden Era or the Grey Zone?

Jade Enoch, Tayla Coles

Aim

Social media (SM) has, quite literally, filtered into medical practice. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and ResearchGate have been adopted by individual medical practitioners, group practices, conferences and professional societies to harness the power of engagement with their target audience. The estimated usage of SM by doctors has

risen from 40-90%1; and a recent paper demonstrated 68% of Australian and New Zealand Colorectal Surgeons are using social media 2. Similarly, patients are increasingly employing SM to research surgical procedures, surgeons and participate in the decision making process. The concerns with SM use in surgery are vast - privacy and patient confidentiality

being at the forefront. The sensationalisation of live-streamed procedures, under the guise of ‘education’, fails to account for the potential suboptimal surgical outcomes these patients face. Similarly, the impact of the social media imprint left behind for these patients has yet

to be quantified. The most recent Royal Australian College of Surgeons position paper on SM remains very vague in defining appropriate SM conduct for fellows and trainees3, but despite this maintains a number of official SM accounts. In contrast, other colleges such as RACGP have actively adopted SM marketing campaigns as a public health movement.

This poster examines whether or not SM is compatible with ethical surgical practice,

and reflects on its potential to be used for collaboration, education and health advocacy.

References

1. George D, Rovniak L, Kraschnewski J. Dangers and Opportunities for Social Media in Medicine. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2013;56(3):453-462, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863578/

2. Radjocic M, Smits M, Wickramsinghe L et al, Australian Colorectal Surgeons in the Modern Era: The Rise of Social Media, Global Journal of Surgery, 2018, Vol 6:(1)1-5

3. Royal Australian College of Surgeons, Communication and Advocacy, Social Media Policy 2019 Ref REL-MPR-007 www.surgeons.org