Law Marcus, Mylopoulos Maria, Veinot Paula, Miller Daniel, Hanson Mark D
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; The Wilson Centre, Toronto, ON.
Can Med Educ J. 2016 Oct 18;7(2):e4-e13. eCollection 2016 Oct.
Despite the ever-increasing use of social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) little is known about its use in medical school admissions. This qualitative study explores whether and how social media (SM) is used in undergraduate admissions in Canada, and the attitudes of admissions personnel towards such use.
Phone interviews were conducted with admissions deans and nominated admissions personnel. A qualitative descriptive analysis was performed using iterative coding and comparing, and grouping data into themes.
Personnel from 15 of 17 Canadian medical schools participated. A sizeable proportion had, at some point, examined social media (SM) profiles to acquire information on applicants. Participants did not report using it explicitly to screen all applicants (primary use); however, several did admit to looking at SM to follow up on preliminary indications of misbehaviour (secondary use). Participants articulated concerns, such as validity and equity, about using SM in admissions. Despite no schools having existing policy, participants expressed openness to future use.
While some of the 15 schools had used SM to acquire information on applicants, criteria for formulating judgments were obscure, and participants expressed significant apprehension, based on concerns for fairness and validity. Findings suggest participant ambivalence and ongoing risks associated with "hidden" selection practices.
尽管社交媒体（如脸书、推特）的使用日益增加，但对于其在医学院招生中的应用却知之甚少。本定性研究探讨了加拿大本科招生中是否以及如何使用社交媒体，以及招生人员对此类使用的态度。
对招生院长和指定的招生人员进行了电话访谈。采用迭代编码、比较的方法进行定性描述性分析，并将数据分组形成主题。
加拿大17所医学院中的15所院校的人员参与了研究。相当一部分人曾在某些时候查看过社交媒体资料以获取申请人的信息。参与者并未报告将其明确用于筛选所有申请人（主要用途）；然而，有几位确实承认会查看社交媒体以跟进不当行为的初步迹象（次要用途）。参与者阐述了在招生中使用社交媒体时对有效性和公平性等方面的担忧。尽管没有学校制定相关政策，但参与者表示愿意在未来使用。
虽然15所学校中的一些学校曾利用社交媒体获取申请人的信息，但做出判断的标准并不明确，而且基于对公平性和有效性的担忧，参与者表达了极大的忧虑。研究结果表明参与者存在矛盾心理，且与“隐性”选拔做法相关的风险依然存在。
