Supporting Scholarship in Medical Education: The role of social media and networks

Dr Anne Marie Cunningham, Cardiff Universit

The problem: The model of Excellent Teachers <->Scholarly Educators <->Scholars of Education
1

suggests three levels of scholarship in medical education. hilst conferences and academic !ournals
can provide the means for scholars of education to reflect and disseminate" it is less clear ho#
scholarship can be supported at other levels. $incher and or%
&
state that all forms of scholarship
re'uire peer revie# and dissemination but at present there are fe# opportunities for this outside
one(s o#n institution. )nd it has also been suggested that fe# educators even participate in *critical
reflection of day to day teaching+.
,
The solution: The tools of #eb &.- are ever changing and developing. They include social
boo%mar%ing" social document sharing" .micro-/blogging" image and video sharing" and online
conferencing. )s they are free to use the barriers to recording and sharing of reflection on practice
are immensely reduced. 0onversations bet#een colleagues #ith shared interests in different
institutions" even time 1ones" can occur.
hat happened2 : 3n the past year 3 have been exploring the potential of these tools to form an
online community of medical educators. The core activity has been maintaining a blog on medical
education in #hich 3 have reflected on my practice and received feedbac% from colleagues in
medical education" other healthcare professions" patients and students. 3 have also developed areas
for those interested in medical education to participate in discussions on research and ho# it may
affect their practice. The use of other tools #ill be illustrated.
Strengths2: 4o# cost" rapid feedbac%" open and transparent.
ea%nesses2: 5e# participants can feel s#amped by the plethora of tools available and uncertain of
the time to invest. )t present there is lo# ta%e-up of social media amongst medical educators as
although #e have a culture of sharing" many do not see the relevance of these tools to their practice.
6pportunities2: 7edical educators can have open and transparent conversations #ith each other"
and also #ith students and patients" about ho# their #or% is developing and refining.
Threats2: $e#" 2institutions are not supportive of process of creating #ea% lin%s and external
net#or%s.
hat is needed2: ) commitment from individuals to pursue scholarship in their teaching" the
dedication of time to this process" and the recognition of the value of this activity by institutions.
$urther evaluation of the benefits to participants.
8eferences:
1. 8oberts T. 7edical Education 8esearch 9 the rhetoric" the reality and future routes. :eynote
Speech. )ssociation for 7edical Education in Europe .)7EE/; &--<" ,-
th
)ug-,
rd

Sep;=rague" 01ech 8epublic.
&. $inchet 8E and or% >. =erspectives on the scholarship of teaching. Medical Education.
&--?:@;&A,-&AB
,. Sandars > and 7c)reavey 7>. Ceveloping the scholarship of medical educators: a
challenge in the present era of change. Postgraduate Medical Journal. &--D
Sep;<,.A<,/:B?1
Trigwell K & Shale S (2004) Student learning and the
scholarship of university teaching. Studies in igher !ducation"
2#:$2%&$%'