Don’t skip electronic professionalism lessons for trainees
Sometimes all it takes is a small action by a resident to spark an idea for a new lecture series or other learning activity.
Nancy Spector, MD, pediatric associate program director at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia launched an e-professionalism lecture series after she was CC’d on an e-mail from a resident to all other trainees that included a reminder to censor their replies because Dr. Spector would receive them as well.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, what are they doing, what do they say on e-mail’,” Spector said in an interview for Residency Program Alert.
Chances are you’ve witnessed trainees misusing technology, such as smart phones, text messages, e-mail, or social networking sites. In additional to creating ground rules for appropriate use of these communication mediums during the day, Spector says program directors, coordinators, and faculty need to educate residents on what will constitute a violation of patient confidentiality.
Spector introduces e-professionalism during orientation. She explains that patients will Google them, and that unprofessional content posted on Web sites, such as Facebook, or blogs will show up in the results. Most trainees will agree that they do not want their patients to see the pictures from their most recent birthday party, but don’t make the connection that this information is largely available to the public.
To drive the point home, Spector provides examples of misuses of technology that occurred at her institution and pulls up examples of residents’ Facebook pages that display unprofessional information. (Before showing it to residents, Spector suggests taking a screen shot of the profile and using a program to blur out or delete personal information and the person’s face from pictures)
This article from AMNews also gives tips on how to develop guidelines for updating technology policies.
After her workshop, Spector says many residents are a lot more careful about what they post online and write in e-mails. They begin to understand that anything they put out on the Web is permanent and can follow them for the rest of their professional lives.
What techonlogy-related rules do you have in place for residents in your program? Have you talked to them about when it’s appropriate to answer their cellphones or text messages? What other topics have you had to cover with them? Leave a comment in the box below.
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