Pharmacy and medical students' attitudes and perspectives on social media usage and e-professionalism in United Arab Emirates

Background: It is imperative to establish how students view and present themselves on social media and to assess level of awareness regarding the implications of their social media presence, e-professionalism, and accountability. The study objectives were to: 1) Determine the social media usage levels among medical and pharmacy students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); 2) Characterize the students' views and perceptions, including their awareness of e-professionalism; and 3) Compare the responses in behavior between the two groups. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was performed on 575 undergraduate students from two study disciplines, pharmacy (n = 325) and medicine (n = 250). Minor revisions were made to previously validated assessment tools and pilot tested. The study sample included students from five different universities across the country. Results: In comparison to medical students, pharmacy students were observed to use social media more for learning purposes (chi(2) = 6.8, P < .05). However, medical students' opinions reflected more strongly on the context of accountability and e-professionalism (chi(2) = 15.8, P < .05). A considerable proportion (89%) of students felt it was discriminatory for prospective employers to use their social media profile information for investigative purposes while hiring. One-third of respondents reported sharing information that they would not want their employers to view, and 67.1% reported the same for information relevant to patients. Conclusion: The research findings converge to address the need for educators and administrators in the UAE to develop guidelines concerning its safe use and proactively integrate e-professionalism into their respective curriculum.