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Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Stephanie Burns sburns@bmjgroup.com 44-020-738-36920 BMJ-British Medical Journal

[Influence of social networking websites on medical school and residency selection process Online First doi 10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-131283]

The use of social networking sites is set to increasingly influence the selection of medical students and trainee doctors in the US, suggests the largest study of its kind published online in Postgraduate Medical Journal.

The authors base their findings on the responses of 600 staff involved in admissions procedures for medical schools and residency programs (for trainee doctors) in the US. Most respondents were either program directors or residency coordinators.

Forty six respondents (8%) were involved in medical school applications only; 511 (85%) were involved in reviewing residency program applications; and 43 (7%) were involved in both.

One in seven (15%) of the med schools and residency programs maintained a profile on a social networking site. And half of the respondents said they themselves had a social networking profile on Facebook (97%), LinkedIn (22%), or Twitter (13%).

Almost two out of three respondents said they were somewhat or very familiar with researching individuals on social networking sites.

While only around one in 10 (9%) admitted to using social networking sites to evaluate applicants, around one in five (19%) said they used some type of internet search to pick up information on applicants.

Only around one in seven (15%) schools/programs said they plan to use the web/social networking sites to search out information on candidates in future, but 29% were neutral on the issue, prompting the authors to suggest that the use of this method could therefore increase in the future.

Link:
Social networking info will increasingly influence med student and trainee doctor selection