EP 586 Can Social Media be used to Improve Surgical Knowledge and Skills?
Georgia Scutter, Kaso AriAbstract
Aims
Social Media has great potential to help drive medical education. We created a social media page called SurgMentor and aimed to understand how doctors use these platforms for professional development, the types of content they find most engaging, and the barriers to use.
Methods
A Survey was distributed to medical students and doctors to assess their social media usage patterns, content preferences, and concerns. The survey asked the types of educational content doctors find most useful, the platforms they use, and potential issues they encounter when using social media. The survey was distributed via the established SurgMentor pages and locally.
Results
There were 16 responses, ranging from foundation doctors to surgical trainees. Overall, 93.8% of participants said social media was engaging/useful and they use for purpose of learning. The most engaging content identified included short, interactive videos, focused on career advice and portfolio building. The biggest concern identified was misinformation and lack of regulation of content. Across platforms, SurgMentor currently has 230 followers and 38 posts. These insights are intended to guide the future content on SurgMentor platform, to create reliable and engaging material for those interested in surgical careers.
Conclusions
Social Media has strong potential as a tool for medical education. The success of such platforms depends on creating engaging and reliable content. These findings will be applied to guide future SurgMentor content that focuses on creating trustworthy educational resources.