Health professions students' use of social media

The internet is increasingly a part of everyday life by facilitating networking opportunities and offering ways to associate with others who have similar interests, values, or goals. An online survey was administered to 644 first-year students and 413 graduating students via Surveymonkey to investigate their media preferences, to gauge if they are active on social media sites, and to evaluate how they responded to advertisements. Students were in the following health professions: biotechnology, couple and family therapy, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, public health, radiologic and imaging sciences, and pharmacy. Results indicate that students prefer online media as their primary source of information. The majority of students were using Facebook, and very few were using Twitter or LinkedIn or other social networking sites. Understanding social media usage has several implications for educating, connecting with, and researching health professions students from all stages of their academic career.