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Older and wiser? first year BDS graduate entry students and their views on using social media and professional practice

  • University of Central Lancashire
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

The use of social media sites (SMS) has increased exponentially since their creation and introduction in the early 2000s. The number of regular users of SMS is estimated at over two billion people worldwide. Ethical and legal guidelines exert an additional responsibility on the behaviour of both graduate and undergraduate dentists when compared to members of the general public with some assumption that life experience can offer some insight into attitudes about online use of social media in relation to professional practice. Aim We set out to explore the views of the first year graduate entry programme students at the University of Central Lancashire and their use of SMS together with their opinions on what they consider to be professional online behaviour. Methods A mixed-methods approach was adopted with a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews which were designed to elicit the students’ opinions. Results For this group of students, 100% were using social media sites and some were aware of some of their limitations and possible impact on their careers. There was some rather superficial knowledge of what is and is not professional to post via social media, however, students were not fully aware about the legal and ethical guidelines in place in relation to the topic. Conclusion Results from this study present an opportunity and a challenge for educators to incorporate additional details not only about professionalism and ethical and legal aspects within the undergraduate curriculum but more specific emphasis on the use of social media as part of the undergraduate BDS course.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 437-440

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

British Dental Journal

Publication milestones

  • Published - 31/08/2018

Publication status

Published - 31/08/2018

ISSN

0007-0610

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/623201
  • Scopus: 85053388238

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