Med students cross the line on Internet

CHICAGO (AP) — From Facebook to YouTube to personal blogs, future doctors are crossing the line — and getting into trouble.

A new study finds most medical- school deans surveyed said they were aware of students’ posting unprofessional content online, including photos of drug paraphernalia and violations of patient privacy. Some infractions resulted in warnings, others in being expelled.

The survey cited a handful of examples. In one, a student posted identifying patient details on Facebook. Another requested an inappropriate friendship with a patient on the site. Others used profanity, according to the deans.

“The number we found was higher than we expected,” said Dr. Katherine Chretien of the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center, the study’s lead author. “And these are the incidents that made it to the attention of the deans. This is the tip of the iceberg.”

Yet most deans said their schools didn’t yet have policies to help students figure out what’s allowed online and what can get them kicked out of medical school.

A quick search of YouTube finds numerous videos posted by medical students, from harmless musical numbers to a prank with what appears to be a dead body.

There’s no way to tell whether the cadaver prank is real, and it wasn’t part of the study, but real or staged, it doesn’t reflect well on the medical profession, Chretien said.

“I watched it and I definitely cringed,” she said. “Disrespect for cadavers is one thing, but filming it and putting it on YouTube is another. It undermines the credibility of our profession.”

The study, appearing in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, found 47 of 78 medical- school deans who responded to a survey knew of incidents of online unprofessional conduct.

But policies covering the behavior were reported by only 38 percent who answered that question.

The incidents were reported most often by other students or doctors in residency programs, indicating trainees are policing themselves. Most offenders received informal warnings. The deans also reported three dismissals.