Abstract
Objective
To determine continuing medical education (CME) course participants' use of social
media (SM) and their attitudes about the value of SM for enhancing CME education and
to examine associations between participants' characteristics and attitudes toward
SM.
Participants and Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional survey and validation study of 539 participants at
a Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine CME course in November 2011. The Social Media Use
and Perception Instrument (SMUPI) consisted of 10 items (5-point Likert scales) and
categorical response options. The main outcome measures were psychometric characteristics
of the SMUPI scale, course participants' use of SM, and their attitudes regarding
the importance of SM for enhancing CME.
Results
Of 539 CME course participants, 327 (61%) responded to the SMUPI survey. Most respondents
(291 [89%]) reported using SM, with the most common types being YouTube (189 of the
327 participants [58%]) and Facebook (163 of 327 [50%]). Factor analysis revealed
a 2-dimensional assessment of course participants' attitudes. Internal consistency
reliability (Cronbach α) was excellent for factor 1 (0.94), factor 2 (0.89), and overall
(0.94). The CME course participants' favorable attitudes toward SM were associated
with younger age (20-29 years, mean score 3.13; 30-39 years, 3.40; 40-49 years, 3.39;
50-59 years, 3.18; 60-69 years, 2.93; and ≥70 years, 2.92; P=.02), using SM frequently (never, mean score 2.49; less than once monthly, 2.75;
once monthly, 3.21; weekly, 3.31; and daily, 3.81; P<.0001), and professional degree (PhD, mean score 3.00; MD, 3.05; DO, 3.35; PA, 3.42;
and NP, 3.50; P=.01).
Conclusion
We describe the first validated measure of CME course participants' use of and attitudes
toward SM. Our results suggest that CME course directors should guide SM strategies
toward more youthful, technology-savvy CME participants and that SM will become increasingly
worthwhile in CME as younger learners continue to enter the profession.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
CME (continuing medical education), SM (social media), SMUPI (Social Media Use and Perception Instrument)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 09, 2012
Footnotes
Financial Support: Drs Wang and Sandhu received a Continuing Medical Education Research Award from the Mayo Clinic Department of Internal Medicine.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
