Use of media in medical education
Currently, with application of new modes of teaching as well as learning methods, emphasis on evaluation has been changed to the use of greater communication skills, cognitive abilities, professionalism and IT skills (Amgad and AlFaar, 2014). Emphasis is also shifting in medical education from medical education which is based on competency to medical education that is based on outcomes and the assessment of workplace performance. This is where the use of media in medical teaching comes in (McArthur and Bostedo-Conway, 2012).
Online websites and applications in which users retrieve, explore and even contribute contents and use those which have been posted or generated by other users are popular media to communicate as well as share data (Bahner et al, 2012). For instance, Facebook is one of the media platforms which has over 1.2 billion users monthly and more than 73 million users per day. In Singapore, media platforms especially social media platforms are popular with numerous individuals checking on social media applications many times daily. With this popularity in the media platforms in the country, numerous medical and healthcare experts, professionals and medical teaching institutions have embraced the use of media in promoting medical education and information. For instance, social media can be useful and important in enhancing and promoting medical education.
Limitations on work hours for residents can restrict their ability and capacity to take part in in-person educational sessions and conferences. Most of the media platforms may be found temporarily as well as geographically in synchronized means, enabling for efficient storage as well as searchable content and as well as encouraging interactivity (Brisson et al, 2015). This may offer specific advantages and benefits over the more conventional formats of education. Moreover, most of the medical professional learners prefer media as their basic data source and the digital students have accepted online media as part of their education. According to El Bialy & Ayoub (2017), Social media networks users normally interact via sharing of video messages, audios, texts and photos.
The use of media especially social media by the medical learners has become a popular and famous method in engaging learners and teachers. According to Dewey and Vygotsky principles of social construction, active participation, information sharing and social interaction in social media activities can motivate learning. In a study conducted to evaluate and assess the integration of Skype, Twitter, Flicker, YouTube and Facebook, in two medical courses for fourth year students for medicine, the results showed that most students were willing and were satisfied with the new and advanced approach medical education.
These results of a study that was conducted in Saudi Arabia shows that social media is mostly used in learning by health students in the country. Most of the students in the study indicated that they use social media as part of their education. YouTube is the most accessed media platform that is mostly used by students since it has the largest volume of educational and learning materials which are helpful and enhance learning. However, it also contains most of the information having low quality and not backed up by scientific evidence. Thus, it is important to create a unique and special platform in which educational discussions as well as materials can be reviewed by medical professionals (Galiatsatos et al, 2016). Coming up with such a website will require the presence of guidelines and regulations for posting health educational materials involving ethical terms, that is, respect of and the confidentiality of rights of patients. There is scientific and empirical evidence that the use of media platforms is famous with the students in places of higher learning.
How the Use of Media Helped Us in the Learning Intervention
My learning intervention where the use of media was of great importance was in teaching where our lecturer gave us an assignment to research on a given topic in medical research methods. This was an assignment that every student was to research not only in the school library but also in the online internet sources. Just like many students in Singapore who have embrace the sue of social media in the learning process, I decided to use every source of information to research on the topic that we were given by our lecturer. The sources that I have found helpful were the library sources as well as media sources (electronic medial sources like the electronic media platforms and the internet).
Advantages of using media in Medical Education (learning process)
I discovered that the use of media especially social media is more active learning process as compared to the conventional didactic learning process. Through the use of social media, students become more confident enabling them to debate medical topics as well as eventually share each others’ views and thoughts on the subject matter. For instance, in the assignment that we were given by our lecturer, media platform increased the engagement between the class members as well as simulated the interaction among students, generating more content on the topic which ultimately improved our grades on that assignment. Social media also helped us to create personal learning environment; learner-designed methods which integrate numerous tools like videos, pictures, games, apps etc. chosen by learners to match their pace and style of learning. These learning environments helped students especially students who are considered as weak in the classroom to understand the topic according to their pace and style (Richter, Muhlestein & Wilks, 2014). The environments also helped us to increase the amount of control over how we wanted to learn unlike the conventional mode of learning where a teacher has the full control over how a student should learn. Through the application of media, our tutor was able to distribute as well as share valuable information on the topic that we were to discuss and research on. This not only helped us to acquire more information on the subject but we also had time interacting with our tutor, therefore, improving and enhancing the relationship between the teacher and student relationship (Kind et al, 2014).
Innovations through the use of media in medical Education
Through application of the media, we were able to retrieve important information through published journals, articles, medical scientific encyclopedias and online books. These enabled us to save both time and money; time in looking for information materials in the school library, a task that is always tedious and hard, and money that we could have used in purchasing books for doing the assignment. Media also provided a platform through which we discussed new ideas of the topic given thus becoming more innovative and active. The use of Facebook, for instance, by my class members was high with the students uploading and sharing anatomical structures. This showed that Facebook is a multifunctional media tool which allows students and educators to adapt to their learning as well as teaching styles. Through the use of YouTube, we were able to view the video formats of our assignment as well as visualize the assignment concepts and ideas, thus, heightening our understanding of the subject.
Challenges and limitations of using Media in Medical Education
In as much as media is considered as an important tool in the medical education, it has some glaring challenges that must be mitigated in order to enhance quality medical education. For instance, according to Sherbino (2015), most of the information available in some of the electronic media platforms are not scientifically validated especially in YouTube. Thus, most of the information that the students are exposed to are misleading as well as incorrect (Rabee et al, 2015). Most of the students when given time to learn through social media, they will search and look for misleading and immoral contents that are not intended for learning and for their consumption (Hillman and Sherbino, 2015). Thus, such students will be exposed to various immoral and unethical information which will corrupt their minds.
It is important for lecturers to guide students on the type of information they need to look for in the media and avoid dangerous source of information (Jalali & Wood, 2014).
Conclusion:
The use of media significantly helped me to understand one of the learning interventions; an assignment on a given topic that were to do research and discuss in the class. therefore, most of the health and medical learning institutions should embrace using media to enhance education quality.
Medical teaching is a very intricate art as well as skill. Medical teaching process requires and demands feedback, self-discipline, eagerness, practice and hard work so as to make sure that students or learners are on the right track. Even medical learners who have the inherent talent have to undergo the learning process to enhance their performance. It should be noted that the concept of medical training started many decades ago in Singapore and it has since been made mandatory for any student aspiring to be a professional and registered medical and nursing student. Teaching usually facilitates learning as well as motivates the learners to usually learn in the best way possible. The aim of teaching is to develop attitudes and skills and not limited to dispensing and delivering information. The use of media has been included in most teaching process especially with the advent and invention of information technology not only in Singapore but also in the entire globe. In the medical education, most teachers and educators have adopted the use of media to enhance learning process especially with current generation of students and learners who are techno savvy. The aim of this paper will be to critically analyze use of media in the medical learning and education. The paper will identify one learning intervention and analyze the use of media in that learning intervention. The paper will then conclude by analyzing how the use of media can be improved to promote and enhance not only the learning intervention but also in the entire medical department.
References:
Amgad, M. and AlFaar, A., S 2014, ‘Integrating Web 2.0 In Clinical Research Education In A Developing Country’, Journal of Cancer Education, 29(3), pp. 536–540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-013-0595-5
Bahner, D., P., Adkins, E., Patel, N., Donley, C., Nagel, R. & Kman, N., E 2012, ‘How We Use Social Media To Supplement A Novel Curriculum In Medical Education’, Medical Teacher, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 439–444,
Brisson, G. E., Fisher, M. J., LaBelle, M. W. and Kozmic, S., E 2015, ‘Defining A Mismatch: Differences In Usage Of Social Networking Sites Between Medical Students And The Faculty Who Teach Them’, Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 27(2), pp. 208–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2015.1011648
El Bialy, S. & Ayoub, A., R 2017, ‘The Trends of Use of Social Media by Medical Students’, Education in Medicine Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 59–58,
Galiatsatos, P, Porto-Carreiro, F, Hayashi, J, Zakaria, S & Christmas, C 2016, ‘The Use Of Social Media To Supplement Resident Medical Education – The SMART-ME Initiative’, Medical Education Online, vol. 21, pp. 1–5,
Hillman, T. and Sherbino, J 2015, ‘Social Media In Medical Education: A New Pedagogical Paradigm?’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 91(1080), pp. 544–545. https://doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2015-133686
Jalali, A. & Wood, T., J 2014, ‘Teaching Medical Students Social Media: Must Or Bust’, Medical Education, vol. 48, no. 11, pp. 1128–1129,
Kind, T., Patel, P., Lie, D. and Chretien, K. (2014). Twelve Tips For Using Social Media As A Medical Educator. Medical Teacher, 36(4), pp.284-290. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2013.852167
McArthur, J., A. and Bostedo-Conway, K 2012, Exploring the relationship between student-instructor interaction on Twitter and student perceptions of teacher behaviors. Int J Teach Learn High Educ 24:286–292.
Rabee, R., Najim, M., Sherwani, Y., Ahmed, M., Ashraf, M., Al-Jibury, O., Rabee, N., Najim, R. and Ahmed, A 2015, ‘YouTube in medical education: A student’s perspective’, Medical Education Online, 20(0). https://doi.org/10.3402/meo.v20.29507
Richter, J., P, Muhlestein, D., B. & Wilks, C., E., A 2014, ‘Social Media: How Hospitals Use It, and Opportunities for Future Use’, Journal of Healthcare Management, vol. 59, no. 6, pp. 447–460,
Sherbino, J 2015, ‘The social media summit in health professions education: Table 1’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 91(1080), pp. 542–543. https://doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2015-133612
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