Australian orthopaedic surgeons and social media: The future of education and communication?

• Published in: Australasian Medical Journal (Online) Vol. 13; no. 7; pp. 239 - 246
• Main Authors: Thorne, Dane, Burton, Codey, Tulloch, Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Floreat Australasian Medical Journal 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Continuing education; Gender differences; Health care; Medical education; Orthopedics; Social networks; Social research; Surgeons; User behavior; Web sites; Australia
• ISSN: 1936-1935
• DOI: 10.35841/1836-1935.13.7.239-246

For health care professionals, utilisation of social media provides numerous potentially useful opportunities. To the author's knowledge, no study to date has quantified the use of social media among orthopaedic surgeons in Australia. To assess the use of popular social media platforms by all practicing orthopaedic surgeons in Australia and determine other potential correlations. Orthopaedic surgeons currently practicing in Australia as of November 2019 were identified using the Australia Orthopaedic Association (AOA) surgeon directory. A comprehensive search of websites and social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Instagram and YouTube was undertaken to assess the level of uptake of these platforms for each surgeon. Further analysis in relation to surgeon gender, geographical location, and 'years in practice' was also undertaken. A total of 1039 Australian orthopaedic surgeons were included in the study, of which 776 (74.4 per cent) had at least one type of social media account. Overall, 10 surgeons (0.96 per cent) were found to have accounts on all six social media platforms investigated. LinkedIn proved the most popular platform, with a total of 637 (60.3 per cent) surgeons having accounts on the platform, followed by Facebook (463 (44.5 per cent)) and Twitter (210 (20.2 per cent)). There was no statistically significant correlation between surgeon gender and uptake of social media platforms. The uptake of social media platforms by Australian orthopaedic surgeons is varied. As the role of these platforms becomes increasingly relevant years to come, it is important for surgeons to remain aware of the guidelines governing the utilisation of these platforms.