What advice is given to newly qualified doctors on Twitter?: An analysis of #TipsForNewDocs tweets
What advice is given to newly qualified doctors on Twitter?: An analysis of #TipsForNewDocs tweets
CONTEXT: Twitter is a social media platform on which users post very brief messages that can be rapidly communicated across wide geographical areas and audiences. Many doctors use Twitter for personal as well as professional communications and networking. The #TipsForNewDocs hashtag is used on Twitter to give advice to newly qualified doctors as they commence their careers. This study explores the nature and focus of such advice.
METHODS: An analysis of Twitter activity containing the #TipsForNewDocs hashtag was performed using Symplur health care analytics software. Tweets sent during a peak 48-hour period in 2016 (immediately preceding the first day of work for newly qualified UK doctors) were studied. The geographical locations and professional backgrounds of participants were categorised and the content of tweets was subjected to thematic analysis. During 1 and 2 August 2016, 661 unique #TipsForNewDocs tweets were posted. A total of 621 (94.0%) were posted by people in the UK; 522 (79.0%) were posted by doctors, and the remainder by allied health care professionals and patients.
RESULTS: The majority of included tweets focused on aspects of professional development, improving personal or professional knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge, and developing 'know-how'. These aspects of professional knowledge have previously been described as fundamental to professional education and training. However, a significant subset of tweets focused on accelerating socialisation into the profession, an essential step in joining a professional community. The tweets relating to socialisation were often humorous and colloquial in nature.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite their brief and often jocular nature, #TipsForNewDocs tweets provided meaningful advice for newcomers to the profession, often focusing on tacit learning and professional socialisation. Hashtag-driven enquiries can be a valuable and time-efficient way of accessing and sharing tacitly held knowledge. Social media content analysis can provide valuable insights into key educational issues.
Humans, Information Dissemination, Interprofessional Relations, Patient-Centered Care, Physicians, Social Media
747-756
Rashid, Mohammed Ahmed
795639db-e417-4946-a095-26879756f8c2
McKechnie, Doug
696d9f35-db3b-4361-adfb-807dcd8ba7f7
Gill, Deborah
7efe669f-45e8-45d3-ab30-8717653353ca
July 2018
Rashid, Mohammed Ahmed
795639db-e417-4946-a095-26879756f8c2
McKechnie, Doug
696d9f35-db3b-4361-adfb-807dcd8ba7f7
Gill, Deborah
7efe669f-45e8-45d3-ab30-8717653353ca
Rashid, Mohammed Ahmed, McKechnie, Doug and Gill, Deborah
(2018)
What advice is given to newly qualified doctors on Twitter?: An analysis of #TipsForNewDocs tweets.
Medical Education, 52 (7), .
(doi:10.1111/medu.13589).
Abstract
CONTEXT: Twitter is a social media platform on which users post very brief messages that can be rapidly communicated across wide geographical areas and audiences. Many doctors use Twitter for personal as well as professional communications and networking. The #TipsForNewDocs hashtag is used on Twitter to give advice to newly qualified doctors as they commence their careers. This study explores the nature and focus of such advice.
METHODS: An analysis of Twitter activity containing the #TipsForNewDocs hashtag was performed using Symplur health care analytics software. Tweets sent during a peak 48-hour period in 2016 (immediately preceding the first day of work for newly qualified UK doctors) were studied. The geographical locations and professional backgrounds of participants were categorised and the content of tweets was subjected to thematic analysis. During 1 and 2 August 2016, 661 unique #TipsForNewDocs tweets were posted. A total of 621 (94.0%) were posted by people in the UK; 522 (79.0%) were posted by doctors, and the remainder by allied health care professionals and patients.
RESULTS: The majority of included tweets focused on aspects of professional development, improving personal or professional knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge, and developing 'know-how'. These aspects of professional knowledge have previously been described as fundamental to professional education and training. However, a significant subset of tweets focused on accelerating socialisation into the profession, an essential step in joining a professional community. The tweets relating to socialisation were often humorous and colloquial in nature.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite their brief and often jocular nature, #TipsForNewDocs tweets provided meaningful advice for newcomers to the profession, often focusing on tacit learning and professional socialisation. Hashtag-driven enquiries can be a valuable and time-efficient way of accessing and sharing tacitly held knowledge. Social media content analysis can provide valuable insights into key educational issues.
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Published date: July 2018
Additional Information:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.
Keywords:
Humans, Information Dissemination, Interprofessional Relations, Patient-Centered Care, Physicians, Social Media
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 502814
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/502814
ISSN: 0308-0110
PURE UUID: 328be38d-c681-493d-8cbf-a4aa0fc5b6fe
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Date deposited: 08 Jul 2025 16:55
Last modified: 09 Jul 2025 02:04
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Author:
Mohammed Ahmed Rashid
Author:
Doug McKechnie
Author:
Deborah Gill
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