Implementing Instagram as educational tool for teaching hematology and medical oncology - a cross-sectional study

Social media platforms are widely used by medical students not only for personal communication but increasingly for educational purposes. Despite this trend, evidence on structured integration of social media into medical curricula remains limited. This study explores the use of Instagram as a supplementary asynchronous teaching tool in hematology and medical oncology.

An Instagram account was created to complement the hematology and oncology teaching module. Educational content was disseminated through posts and interactive, case-based stories. Posts were categorized into five themes: 'knowledge', 'media', 'work-life balance', 'patient care', and 'other'. Engagement rate served as a proxy for student interest. Interactive features such as polls, quizzes, and multiple-choice questions were employed to promote participation. Student interaction was quantified by story views relative to total followers. A survey was conducted at the end of the module to evaluate student perceptions.

Posts related to 'work-life balance' achieved the highest engagement, while other categories showed no significant difference in interaction. Case-based Instagram Stories were viewed by an average of 48.9% (± 7.3%) of followers, indicating consistent student engagement. Case length did not affect participation. Among interaction formats, multiple-choice questions were preferred. In the final evaluation, 98.4% (60/62) of respondents rated the case-based learning approach via Instagram Stories as good or very good, and 93.2% (55/59) rated the "ilearnonco" Instagram account as a good or very good educational tool.

Instagram can be effectively integrated into a medical curriculum to support asynchronous, case-based learning in hematology and oncology. The high acceptance and engagement rates highlight the potential of social media as a complementary educational resource in medical education.