Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu
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THE BLOG

Hierarchies in Social Media?

5/25/2011

1 Comment

 
Since I joined twitter in in 2009, I’ve become increasingly active in the medical community online. As a rising medical student I have enjoyed exploring the intersection between medicine and media with other colleagues active in both fields. I felt as though I was an equal player in the game. That is, until it hit me...I may not be an equal player just yet.


Recently I've seen a few physicians "call each other out" in a manner that I believe is akin to Theresa Brown's physician bullying in the New York Times. In these instances passive aggressive strategies were used to expose an individual's mistakes, rather than personally contacting the offending party and offering constructive criticism or suggestions for improvement. While it is important to educate medical professionals that use social media about best practices, I am disappointed by  the use of social media to amplify physician faux pas and embarrass or attack offenders. 

Other than writing this vague blog post,  I can’t really do or say much about the many instances of bullying I've seen. I’m just beginning my career, so I’m not in any position to confront any  physician on twitter, publicly or privately, especially those at academic institutions where I may one day need a job. In a school setting, it would be unwise for a medical student to directly confront an attending. It would be even more unwise for the medical student to make this confrontation public. So why would it be okay for a medical student to confront a physician online ? 

Twitter is not a democratic forum free of consequences, even for those who wish to engage in a productive and respectful dialogue with “superiors”. Even though I believe we should use social media to teach our colleagues, the extent to which I can teach other medical professionals is limited. The hierarchies that exist in medical education may exist in the digital space. I can't say I've specifically "confronted" a higher ranking physician, but I'm certainly not foolish enough to find out!
1 Comment
Linda Pourmassina MD link
5/31/2011 04:08:26 am

Jennifer, good post.

Though you feel you are not in a position to "confront" a higher ranking physician, you can approach him/her. You can ask the important questions. You can offer insight without necessarily getting caught up in a revolution or "picking sides." I personally think this is crucial for you to know and learn now, in the early stages of your career.

Twitter and Social Media are, perhaps, more democratizing than you think - certainly more so than medical school or residency - and, therefore, a great place to practice being professional by asking the right questions, carefully wording your thoughts and making them comprehensible, responding to and incorporating feedback, learning how to interact with peers, etc.

And don't be dismayed. The negatives you come across should serve as learning opportunities.

My last piece of advice for you applies to everyone on social media: try not to be reactionary. This is hard, but important. To truly glean the benefits social media can ofter, "listen" and reflect on as many sides of an argument as you can before you type. I failed to do this recently, myself. I continually have to work hard to counter my own biases.

By the way, you might be interested in my post, an experience I had with a couple of my superiors in residency: http://pulsus.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/the-right-way-to-solve-a-workplace-conflict/

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