Department of Surgery, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Department of Surgery, New York Medical College, Westchester, New York.
J Surg Educ. 2021 Jan-Feb;78(1):35-42. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.06.008. Epub 2020 Jul 4.
To examine patterns of Twitter use by surgery departments with residency programs and understand relevant motivations and concerns. The primary outcome was to quantify account prevalence and activity. The secondary outcomes were to identify reasons for use and perceived benefits and concerns.
DESIGN SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional study was performed on Twitter accounts of departments of surgery with Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education accredited general surgery residencies. An anonymous survey was distributed to all programs with accounts. Data acquisition was completed in August 2019 and analysis was completed in February 2020.
Among the 319 departments of surgery, only 80 (25%) had department of surgery Twitter accounts. Mean account age was 3.5 years (range: 0-9.8), with the highest account creation in 2017 (n = 23, 29%). Median total tweets per account was 314 (range 3-21,893), and median number of followers was 454 (range 18-22,353). Having a Twitter account was associated with program type: 66/123 (54%) university-based, 1/9 (11%) military, 13/124 (11%) community/university-affiliated, and 0/63 (0%) community (p < 0.01). Survey response rate was 40% (n = 32). Only 59% had formal posting guidelines. Daily logins (78%) and daily tweeting (53%) were common. The most frequent perceived benefits were "highlighting new research and major events" (97%), "increasing visibility within the academic community" (91%), and "improving resident engagement" (75%). The most common concerns were "professionalism" (72%), "privacy" (63%), and "time commitment" (53%).
Though only a quarter of departments of general surgery had Twitter accounts, they were felt to be key for improving academic reach. Formal posting guidelines existed for 59% of survey respondents, although concerns about privacy and content were common. An underutilized tool for surgery departments to promote academic achievements, Twitter use represents a potential opportunity to engage the surgical community more broadly.
研究有住院医师培训计划的外科部门使用 Twitter 的模式，并了解相关动机和关注点。主要结果是量化账户的普及程度和活跃度。次要结果是确定使用原因以及感知到的益处和关注点。
设计、设置和参与者：对经研究生医学教育认证委员会认证的普通外科住院医师培训计划的外科部门的 Twitter 账户进行了横断面研究。向所有有账户的项目分发了匿名调查。数据采集于 2019 年 8 月完成，分析于 2020 年 2 月完成。
在 319 个外科部门中，只有 80 个（25%）有外科部门的 Twitter 账户。平均账户年龄为 3.5 岁（范围：0-9.8），创建时间最高的是 2017 年（n=23，29%）。每个账户的平均总推文数为 314 条（范围 3-21893 条），平均关注者数为 454 人（范围 18-22353 人）。拥有 Twitter 账户与项目类型相关：123 个大学基地的 66 个（54%），9 个军事基地的 1 个（11%），124 个社区/大学附属的 13 个（11%），和 63 个社区的 0 个（0%）（p<0.01）。调查的回复率为 40%（n=32）。只有 59%有正式的发布指南。每天登录（78%）和每天发推（53%）很常见。最常被认为的益处是“突出新的研究和重大事件”（97%），“提高在学术界的知名度”（91%），和“提高住院医师的参与度”（75%）。最常见的关注点是“专业性”（72%），“隐私”（63%）和“时间投入”（53%）。
尽管只有四分之一的普通外科部门拥有 Twitter 账户，但它们被认为是提高学术影响力的关键。尽管对隐私和内容的担忧很普遍，但调查受访者中有 59%有正式的发布指南。对于外科部门来说，这是一种未充分利用的宣传学术成就的工具，Twitter 的使用代表了更广泛地吸引外科界的潜在机会。
