Online Medical Professionalism
Authors: Karen Devon, Sabha Ganai
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2013)

LettersJuly 16, 2013Online Medical ProfessionalismKaren Devon, MD and Sabha Ganai, MD, PhDKaren Devon, MDFrom University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Search for more papers by this author and Sabha Ganai, MD, PhDFrom University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-159-2-201307160-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We commend Farnan and colleagues (1) for their thorough and long-overdue position statement about online professionalism. As physicians continue to face new challenges related to online technologies and environments, we would like to highlight some practical challenges.Despite other societal guidelines advocating separation of personal and professional online personas (2), we believe that this is neither feasible nor always desirable. Although it is preferable for physicians and patients to maintain certain boundaries in online and offline venues, the distinction between professional and personal roles is unclear. Many prominent and successful physicians share both types of narrative in ...References1. Farnan JM, Snyder Sulmasy L, Worster BK, Chaudhry HJ, Rhyne JA, and Arora VM; American College of Physicians Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee. Online medical professionalism: patient and public relationships: policy statement from the American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Ann Intern Med. 2013;158:620-7 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Shore R, Halsey J, Shah K, Crigger BJ, and Douglas SP; AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA). Report of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs: professionalism in the use of social media. J Clin Ethics. 2011;22:165-72. [PMID: 21837888] MedlineGoogle Scholar3. Guseh JS, Brendel RW, and Brendel DH. Medical professionalism in the age of online social networking. J Med Ethics. 2009;35:584-6. [PMID: 19717700] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Greysen SR, Johnson D, Kind T, Chretien KC, Gross CP, Young A, et al. Online professionalism investigations by state medical boards: first, do no harm. Ann Intern Med. 2013;158:124-30 LinkGoogle Scholar5. McNab C. What social media offers to health professionals and citizens [Editorial]. Bull World Health Organ. 2009;87:566. [PMID: 19704998] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoOnline Medical Professionalism: Patient and Public Relationships: Policy Statement From the American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards Jeanne M. Farnan , Lois Snyder Sulmasy , Brooke K. Worster , Humayun J. Chaudhry , Janelle A. Rhyne , Vineet M. Arora , , , and Online Medical Professionalism Joy L. Lee and Albert W. Wu Online Medical Professionalism Jeanne M. Farnan , Lois Snyder Sulmasy , and Humayun Chaudhry Metrics July 16, 2013Volume 159, Issue 2Page: 157-158KeywordsBehaviorConflicts of interestHealth care providersPatient advocacyPatientsSports ePublished: 16 July 2013 Issue Published: July 16, 2013 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2013 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...