Reflective Practice as a Tool to Teach Digital Professionalism

Rationale and Objectives: Digital professionalism is increasingly being integrated into postgraduate medical education. We developed a small-group, reflective practice-based session incorporating radiology-specific cases to heighten residents' awareness about digital professionalism. Materials and Methods: Case-based, radiology-specific scenarios were created for a small-group, reflective practice-based session on digital professionalism. Anonymous pre- and postsession surveys evaluating residents' use of social media and their thoughts about the session were administered to the radiology residents. Results: Twenty-five of 38 (66%) residents responded to the presession survey with 40% (10/25) reporting daily social media use; 50% (12/24) witnessing an unprofessional posting on Facebook; and 8% (2/25) posting something unprofessional themselves. Of the 21 residents who attended the session, 13(62%) responded to the postsession survey. Residents reported that the session added to their understanding of professionalism 3.92, 95% Cl (3.57-4.27). As a result of the session, residents stated that they were more aware of protecting patient privacy and confidentiality on social media sites 3.92, 95% Cl (3.47-4.37), and would take a more active role in ensuring professional use of social media as it relates to patient care 4.00, 95% Cl (3.66-4.34). Conclusion: Residents favorably viewed the reflective case-based session on digital professionalism as a means to be more aware of ways to avoid unprofessional interactions on the internet. Our results suggest that such reflective sessions are an effective method to educate residents on key concepts regarding digital professionalism.