Using Twitter in undergraduate medicine – case study#fluscenarioDr Ellie HothersallTheme Lead for Public HealthDeputy Convenor Systems in PracticeLocum Consultant in Public Health

Epidemiology•Why•Who•When•What•How•(Evaluation)

Public Health is “common sense”•Easy•Concepts rather than facts•Hard to assess•Difficult to get engagement from majority

The solution?•Get ‘em while they’re young•Try to develop conversations not teach

facts•Make it relevant and engaging

#fluscenario•Online•Done in Private Study•Using familiar social media

•Low input required from staff•Peer support

Purpose of #fluscenario•To introduce you to pandemic ‘flu and

emergency planning•To develop an online learning conversation

•(To understand there is more to public health than drinking water and inequalities)

•(To understand how social media will influence your professional life)

Origins of #fluscenario•Based on previous work by nhssm.org•Original scenarios written by Mr Alex

Talbott and Dr Chloe Sellwood •Twitter chat with Social Media emphasis•Easy to tweak to student focus

Warming up•Introduced during Respiratory Block

lectures

•“Introduction to Twitter” sessions from TILT team

•Encouraged to get Twitter account and start using in advance

Long leash…“You are reminded again that Twitter is a public forum, and professionalism is expected. There’s a useful article about Twitter dos and don’ts here [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2011/dec/15/twitter-rules-etiquette].

You are further reminded that all students are expected to make the effort to engage with all the scenarios. Failing to contribute adequately will be viewed as a lapse in professionalism [https://mbchb.dundee.ac.uk/professionalism/lapses-in-professionalism/].”

OutlinePhase

1

• Background• Preparation

Phase 2

• Early outbreak• Communication and risk

Phase 3

• Late outbreak• Prevention and mitigation

Phase 4

• Wrap up• Lessons learned

OutlinePhase

1

• Background• Preparation

Phase 2

• Early outbreak• Communication and risk

Phase 3

• Late outbreak• Prevention and mitigation

Phase 4

• Wrap up• Lessons learned

Background/Early warningAssumptions in planning (e.g. 50% affected, 4% hospitalised)

Link to early BBC coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8017777.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8021483.stmSpread internationally: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8019364.stm

Questions for discussione.g. What could you be doing now to get ready?

OutlinePhase

1

• Background• Preparation

Phase 2

• Early outbreak• Communication and risk

Phase 3

• Late outbreak• Prevention and mitigation

Phase 4

• Wrap up• Lessons learned

Early epidemicSummary of early stages of 2009 pandemic

BBC links e.g. Panic begins over drug availability: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/audiovideo/wales/wide_av_hyperpuff/8043300.stm

Questions, e.g. Where do you get reliable informaiton?

OutlinePhase

1

• Background• Preparation

Phase 2

• Early outbreak• Communication and risk

Phase 3

• Late outbreak• Prevention and mitigation

Phase 4

• Wrap up• Lessons learned

Late epidemic/pandemic• Burden on intensive care• Fear in healthcare workers• Vaccination and antiviral strategy• Pregnancy• ECMO

• BBC links e.g. The doctor’s perspective: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15623927

• Example question: How do hospitals provide all that extra intensive care at short notice?

OutlinePhase

1

• Background• Preparation

Phase 2

• Early outbreak• Communication and risk

Phase 3

• Late outbreak• Prevention and mitigation

Phase 4

• Wrap up• Lessons learned

Wrap up•Today•“We know what we know”

•What have we learned?•What do we hope will be different next

time?

What happened?•2,987 Tweets using the hashtag

#fluscenario•Contributions from staff, students, others•Mean number of Tweets per student was

13.8 (range 1-88). •Peak Twitter activity was in the first 12

hours, with >1,000 Tweets within 8 hours of launching the first scenario.

Evaluation•“did not understand the point of the

exercise”•“waste of time”

•“I enjoyed using twitter as a new way of teaching and I feel like I learnt a lot from the opportunity to discuss the flu scenario with my peers.”

•“Whooping cough: Three more babies die in outbreak http://t.co/VXAIC5Bu #fluscenario”

•“Reading about the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB and automatically relating this to the spread of #fluscenario. Hello Library Weekends.”

View from the outside

Next time?Better evaluationBuild ethics and communications in specificallyAsk students to identify key learning points

Get the students using Twitter earlier to “win them over” (e.g. #dundeeprn)

PLUS content/context analysis of tweets