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Student Project: Ain't misbehavin' : professionalism of Hong Kong dental students on social media

TitleAin't misbehavin' : professionalism of Hong Kong dental students on social media
Authors
Advisors
Advisor(s):McGrath, CPJ
Issue Date2019
PublisherThe University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong)
Citation
Chong, A. O. K., Goh, H. Y., Law, K. W., Li, P. S. B., Ng, C. T., Ng, W. N. I., Sung, N. D., Yeung, S. C.. (2019). Ain't misbehavin' : professionalism of Hong Kong dental students on social media. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.
AbstractBackground: The use of social media is widespread in healthcare. Social media offers potential benefits to the profession, but also poses problems of ‘unprofessionalism’. The study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of Hong Kong dental students towards social media; to evaluate their behaviours on social media and to examine the need of formulating guidelines to uphold professionalism online. Methods: This large-scale cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. An anonymous, paper-based questionnaire was distributed to all 373 undergraduate dental students at The University of Hong Kong and participation was entirely voluntary. The data were collected and analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis. Results: The overall response rate was 88.7% (331/373). The vast majority (96.1%, 318) of students reported to be ‘regular’ users of social media, with most using more than one platform. There was widespread agreement on the usefulness of social media in dental education. Publishing contents with offensive language, publicly discussing patients’ cases non-anonymously, uploading photographs of students smoking and intoxicated were considered ‘unprofessional’ by the majority. Many have witnessed other students’ inappropriate behaviours online. Approximately three-quarters (76.5%, 253) were in agreement that behaviours outside dental school affect students’ level of professionalism. However, many believed that behaviours outside dental school should not be scrutinised. Variations in perceptions with respect to gender (P<0.005) and year of study (P<0.001) were evident. Conclusion: Social media is widely used among dental students in Hong Kong. They perceived it to be useful for their learning and communication in dentistry. Most perceived that ‘unprofessional’ behaviours may negatively affect their professional image, but that self-discipline is adequate for upholding professionalism. There are discrepancies in online behaviours (witnessed and undertaken) between senior and junior students, as well as between male and female students. It is recommended that an official guideline be formulated and enacted to uphold professionalism online.
SubjectSocial media - Influence
Dental students - Ching - Hong Kong - Attitudes
Professional ethics - China - Hong Kong
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/279648
Series/Report no.Community health project (University of Hong Kong. Faculty of Dentistry) ; vno. 223.
Report series (University of Hong Kong. Faculty of Dentistry) ; no. 223.

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.advisorMcGrath, CPJ-
dc.contributor.authorChong, Angela On Kie-
dc.contributor.authorGoh, Hui Ying-
dc.contributor.authorLaw, Ka Wing-
dc.contributor.authorLi, Pok Sze Belinda-
dc.contributor.authorNg, Chi Tsam-
dc.contributor.authorNg, Wing Nok Isaac-
dc.contributor.authorSung, Nicholas David-
dc.contributor.authorYeung, Suen Chi-
dc.date.accessioned2019-11-18T12:57:35Z-
dc.date.available2019-11-18T12:57:35Z-
dc.date.issued2019-
dc.identifier.citationChong, A. O. K., Goh, H. Y., Law, K. W., Li, P. S. B., Ng, C. T., Ng, W. N. I., Sung, N. D., Yeung, S. C.. (2019). Ain't misbehavin' : professionalism of Hong Kong dental students on social media. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/279648-
dc.description.abstractBackground: The use of social media is widespread in healthcare. Social media offers potential benefits to the profession, but also poses problems of ‘unprofessionalism’. The study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of Hong Kong dental students towards social media; to evaluate their behaviours on social media and to examine the need of formulating guidelines to uphold professionalism online. Methods: This large-scale cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. An anonymous, paper-based questionnaire was distributed to all 373 undergraduate dental students at The University of Hong Kong and participation was entirely voluntary. The data were collected and analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis. Results: The overall response rate was 88.7% (331/373). The vast majority (96.1%, 318) of students reported to be ‘regular’ users of social media, with most using more than one platform. There was widespread agreement on the usefulness of social media in dental education. Publishing contents with offensive language, publicly discussing patients’ cases non-anonymously, uploading photographs of students smoking and intoxicated were considered ‘unprofessional’ by the majority. Many have witnessed other students’ inappropriate behaviours online. Approximately three-quarters (76.5%, 253) were in agreement that behaviours outside dental school affect students’ level of professionalism. However, many believed that behaviours outside dental school should not be scrutinised. Variations in perceptions with respect to gender (P<0.005) and year of study (P<0.001) were evident. Conclusion: Social media is widely used among dental students in Hong Kong. They perceived it to be useful for their learning and communication in dentistry. Most perceived that ‘unprofessional’ behaviours may negatively affect their professional image, but that self-discipline is adequate for upholding professionalism. There are discrepancies in online behaviours (witnessed and undertaken) between senior and junior students, as well as between male and female students. It is recommended that an official guideline be formulated and enacted to uphold professionalism online.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherThe University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong)-
dc.relation.ispartofCommunity Health Project-
dc.relation.ispartofseriesCommunity health project (University of Hong Kong. Faculty of Dentistry) ; vno. 223.-
dc.relation.ispartofseriesReport series (University of Hong Kong. Faculty of Dentistry) ; no. 223.-
dc.rightsThe author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works.-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subject.lcshSocial media - Influence-
dc.subject.lcshDental students - Ching - Hong Kong - Attitudes-
dc.subject.lcshProfessional ethics - China - Hong Kong-
dc.titleAin't misbehavin' : professionalism of Hong Kong dental students on social media-
dc.typeStudent_Project-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.hkuros299835-
dc.identifier.mmsid991044162849503414-

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