Medical students’ online network abuse

Background: Nowadays, social networks play an important role in medical students’ life. Despite their benefits, unprofessional posting could harm medical society. This study aims to assess the prevalence and patterns of social network abuse and its association with gender, academic year, and GPAX.

 

Method: A cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire was conducted among medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University in 2009.

 

Results: Of 1,002 participants, 83.7% actively used social networks, most of which were Facebook, MSN, and Hi5. Up to 16.3% made unprofessional posting. Females reported better attitude and lower prevalence than males. Students’ attitude and behavior improved across the year. There was no association between attitude/behavior and GPAX. Regarding the faculty’s involvement, students prefer distinct recommendation to strict regulation.

 

Conclusion: Few medical students made unprofessional posting. They seemed unconcerned with

ramifications of their posting. The faculty should establish a clear guideline to enhance students’

professional responsibility.