One of the most effective instruments for communication and learning in the modern day is social media, an Internet-based form of communication. These social networking sites allow users to exchange a variety of information in the form of texts, videos, images, audios etc therefore its usage in education has become indispensable. Nowadays, social networking techniques are also used in medical education. Students use a variety of social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Google, WhatsApp etc for learning, teaching, clinical skill training, sharing their experiences, and effective peer communication. They provide students control over the order, pace, and length of the content delivery. One of the most popular social media platforms, YouTube, is regularly used by medical students and healthcare professionals to learn new information, share it with others, and edit or comment on it]. Video may be a very effective teaching tool in e-learning and mixed learning situations. Additionally, it is typically the primary mode of multimedia delivery in online courses, such as Webinars. Due to the condensed nature, ease of usage, and accessibility of educational videos, it has been suggested that seeing them in a variety of settings can help students supplement clinical experiences and cement their knowledge. Because this platform is free, easy to use, and aids in the completion of their learning objectives, medical students are increasingly using YouTube videos with other resources for their medical education.The key advantage of using social media videos as an effective learning medium is its adaptability in expressing complex information in a way that is more comprehensible. Besides that, if the videos are effectively made and presented (e.g., using high-quality audio-visual aids), they tend to give medical students the freedom to appraise the lesson plan in accordance with their own capabilities, thereby satisfying their distinctive educational needs for a variety of subject areas.
Introduction:
One of the most effective instruments for communication and learning in the modern day is social media, an Internet-based form of communication [1]. These social networking sites allow users to exchange a variety of information in the form of texts, videos, images, audios etc therefore its usage in education has become indispensable [2]. Nowadays, social networking techniques are also used in medical education [3-6]. Students use a variety of social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Google, WhatsApp etc for learning, teaching, clinical skill training, sharing their experiences, and effective peer communication. [2,7-8] They provide students control over the order, pace, and length of the content delivery. [9-10] One of the most popular social media platforms, YouTube, is regularly used by medical students and healthcare professionals to learn new information, share it with others, and edit or comment on it [11-14]. Video may be a very effective teaching tool in e-learning and mixed learning situations [15]. Additionally, it is typically the primary mode of multimedia delivery in online courses, such as Webinars.[16]. Due to the condensed nature, ease of usage, and accessibility of educational videos, it has been suggested that seeing them in a variety of settings can help students supplement clinical experiences and cement their knowledge. [17] Because this platform is free, easy to use, and aids in the completion of their learning objectives, medical students are increasingly using YouTube videos with other resources for their medical education. [11] The key advantage of using social media videos as an effective learning medium is its adaptability in expressing complex information in a way that is more comprehensible. Besides that, if the videos are effectively made and presented (e.g., using high-quality audio-visual aids), they tend to give medical students the freedom to appraise the lesson plan in accordance with their own capabilities, thereby satisfying their distinctive educational needs for a variety of subject areas.[18]
Objectives:
a) To find out the prevalence of use of various social media by medical students
b) To find out the predictors and purpose of social media use by medical students
Methodology
Study Design: Cross-sectional study
Study Site: Manipal Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
Study duration: 04 months (October 2023 to January 2024)
Study tool: A pre-tested self-administrated questionnaire
Sample Size: Questionnaire was sent to all students of 3 batches undertaking MBBS course and 432 students gave consent to participate in the study, hence the sample size was 432.
Sampling technique: Total Consecutive sampling
Study procedure: The questionnaire was developed using google forms which will comprised of the following sections like sociodemographic details, the predictors and purpose of the use of social media which will consist of frequency of use, grading of its usefulness etc. After preparation, the questionnaire was pretested and after making the necessary modifications, it was distributed to medical students from first to third medical year via electronic media. Each batch has around 150 students. The link for the survey was sent via electronic media to all the students and the link was active for 60 days. The link consisted of 2 parts, the first part being the consent form and the second part, the questionnaire. Upon clicking the link, the consent form opened first and if yes was clicked on consent form then only the questionnaire section opened. If No was clicked in consent form then the survey terminated. All the students were verbally/electronically informed about the study along with the guidance to the sequence of links and sections in the link to questionnaire form. The students were informed that their participation in the study was purely voluntary, and that the identity will remain anonymous. Total of 432 students gave consent and participated in the study.
Data entry and Analysis: Templates were generated in MS Excel sheet and analysis of data was done using Jamovi software (version Solid 2.2.5). Appropriate statistical methods were applied, and Quantitative variables are presented as frequency and percentages.
Ethical approval: Ethical clearance was obtained from the ethics committee of the institution before the start of the study.
Results:
Table 1: Techno-demographic characteristics (n = 432)
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Table 1 presents the techno-demographic characteristics of the study participants. Nearly equal participation was seen from male as well as female students, similarly students from all the three phases of MBBS, phase 1, 2 and 3 participated equally. Regarding possession of technological devices, about 136 out of 432 (31.48%) possessed smart phone while the majority 286 out of 432 (66.20%) reported possession of more than one types of technological devices.
Table 2: Purpose of social media use by medical students
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 1: Frequency of subject for which social media is used (n = 432)
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
The purpose of use of social media platforms by medical students is presented in table 2, where it can be seen that use exclusively for educational purposes is scanty, however, majority of the students, 368 out of 432 (85.19%) reported to be using social media platforms both for education and entertainment. It was reported by about 25.79% students that using social media platforms, helps them in better understanding of the subject while approximately half of the study participants, 168 out of 380 (44.21%) reported to be using it for multiple reason such as better retention of memory, gain in new knowledge, revision of subject etc. About 34.21 % students i.e 130 out of 380 students use directed search as the search strategy.
Table 3: Predictors of use of social media by medical students
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 2: Preferred time of surfing social media for educational purpose (n=380)
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Table 3 depicts the predictors of use of social media by medical students. Smart phone was the most common device 279 out of 380 (73.42%) used by students for using social media platforms, this may be due to the ease, portability and availability of the device with the students. The most common time duration for which social media sites were watched at a stretch as reported to be 30 minutes to 1 hour by 123 out of 380 (32.37%) students, about 268 out of 380 (70.53%) students reported of the history of re-view of the same contents after once watching it. The source of recommendation for most of the students 49.31% were their friends.
The usual time of surfing the social media is presented in Figure 2, where it can be seen that most of the students 216 out of 380, surf the social media at night followed by 127 out of 380 students watching it during the evening hours after the college hours. Few students also refer to social media during lunch hours.
Figure 3: Course of action of the contents watched on social media (n=380)
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
The course of action of the contents watched on social media is presented in figure 3, where it can be seen that students prefer to watch and take notes out of it by 169 out of 380 (44.45%) of the students, while only 47 out of 380 (12.27%) students reported of keeping the content downloaded and saved for future reference.
Figure 4: Perspective of students regarding usefulness of use of social media (n = 380)
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 4 depicts the perspective of medical students regarding usefulness of social media in context to academics, 135 out of 380 students reported that referring to social media platforms is very useful while only 6 out of 380 students reported that social media usage has no role to play in context to academics.
Discussion:
The study to find out the prevalence and predictors of use of social media by medical students was conducted among undergraduate medical students of a medical college in Jharkhand where all the students who gave consent and participated in the study reported of using various platforms of social media. This finding contrasts the findings of a study conducted by Asok K[19] at a medical college in Kerala where the study reported very scanty use of social media platforms by medical students for academic purposes and the overuse for entertainment. The finding in the present study contradicts the findings by Asok K. This difference may be attributed to the period during which the study by Asok K was conducted was the period of COVID-19 lockdown, during which all educational institutes, marketplaces etc was shut down, the entire country was in severe stress. The only source of entertainment and the source to divert the attention from the real-world scenario was electronic devices.
Conclusion:
Various social media platforms were being used by almost all medical undergraduate students who gave consent to participate in this study. Majority of students use it both for education and entertainment. Usage of social media for educational purpose helps in better understanding and better retention of memory. Majority of the students find it to be useful for educational purposes.
Implications:
By knowing the predictors and purpose of use of social media by medical students, students’ perspectives of its usefulness will be known and based on the findings, certain social media may be incorporated in the educational system for enhanced knowledge gain by the students.
Reference:
1. W. Whyte, C. Hennessy, Social Media use within medical education: a systematic review to develop a pilot questionnaire on how social media can be best used at BSMS, MedEdPublish 6 (2017).
2. S. Sutherland, A. Jalali, Social media as an open-learning resource in medical education: current perspectives, in: Advances in Medical Education and Practice, vol. 8, 2017. [4] L. Nicolai, M. Schmidbauer, M. Gradel, S. Ferch, S. Ant'on, B. Hoppe, et al., Facebook groups as a powerful and dynamic tool in medical education: mixed-method study, J. Med. Internet Res. 19 (12) (2017).
3. S. Ranginwala, A.J. Towbin, Use of social media in radiology education, J. Am. Coll. Radiol. 15 (1) (2018) 190-200.
4. Curran V, Matthews L, Fleet L, Simmons K, Gustafson DL, Wetsch L. A review of digital, social, and mobile technologies in health professional education. JCEHP. 2017;37(3):195-206.
5. Mesko B, Gyorffy Z, Kollar J. Digital literacy in the medical curriculum: a course with social media tools and gamification. JMIR Med Educ. 2015;1(2): e6.
6. Hollinderbaumer A, Hartz T, Uckert F. Education 2.0 - how has socialmedia and web 2.0 been integrated intomedical education? A systematical literature review. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2013;30(1): Doc14.
7. Q.A. Dar, F. Ahmad, M. Ramzan, S.H. Khan, K. Ramzan, W. Ahmed, et al., Use of social media tool “whatsapp” in medical education, Ann King Edward Med Univ 23 (1) (2017).
8. G.A. Giraldo Ospina, M.M. G'omez G'omez, C.F. Giraldo Ospina, COVID-19 and use of social media in medical education, Educ. M'ed. 22 (5) (2021).
9. Ruiz JG, Mintzer MJ, Leipzig RM. The impact of e-learning in medical education. Acad Med. 2006;81(3):207-12.
10. Cook DA, Levinson AJ, Garside S, Dupras DM, Erwin PJ, Montori VM. Internet-based learning in the health professions: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 2008;300(10):1181-96.
11. Azer SA. Mechanisms in cardiovascular diseases: how useful are medical textbooks, eMedicine, and YouTube? Adv Physiol Educ. 2015;38(2):124-34.
12. Bramstedt KA, Ierna BN, Woodcroft-Brown V. Using SurveyMonkey® to teach safe social media strategies to medical students in their clinical years. CommunMed. 2014;11(2): 117-24.
13. Guraya SY. The usage of social networking sites by medical students for educational purposes: a meta-analysis and systematic review. N Am J Med Sci. 2016;8(7):268-78.
14. Addar A, Marwan Y, Algarni N, Berry G. Assessment of “YouTube” content for distal radius fracture immobilization. J Surg Educ. 2017;74(5):799-804.
15. Kay RH. Exploring the use of video podcasts in education: a comprehensive review of the literature. Comput Hum Behav. 2012;28(3):820-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.01.011.
16. Brame CJ. Effective educational videos: principles and guidelines for maximizing student learning from video content. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2016;15(4):es6. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-03-0125.
17. Garside MJ, Fisher JM, Blundell AG, Gordon AL. The development and evaluation of mini-GEMs - short, focused, online e-learning videos in geriatric medicine. Gerontol Geriatr Educ. 2018;39(2): 132-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2016.1165217.
18. Ahmed T, Sattar K, Akram A. Medical professionalism videos on YouTube: Content exploration and appraisal of user engagement. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 27 (2020) 2287-2292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.007
19. asok, kavya, "exploring the academic use of social media by medical students of government Medical College, Kozhikode, Kerala-India" (2021). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 6628.
[...]
- Citation du texte
- Anonyme,, 2021, Social Media as a Supplementary Learning Tool by Medical Students of New Medical School of Jharkhand, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1560033
