Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University received a two-year $50,000 grant as part of Institute of Medicine as a Profession 2012 Education and Training to Professionalism Initiative. The grant, “Social Media and Medical Professionalism: Perfect Match or Perfect Storm?” will focus on the ethical issues behind social media.
According to the Institute of Medicine as a Profession, the purpose of this project is to help students understand the potential benefits and harms of using social media in medicine. Medical students will create and analyze their own “digital footprints” for evidence of online behavior that may be inconsistent with professionalism. Students will also have simulated encounters in which social media issues are raised. Third-year students will interview patients in the Bronx community in order to assess their social media usage. This will help determine whether social media use can help enhance the well-being of the patient population served by Einstein.