How did the idea to implement social media as a learning strategy emerge? 

When third-year medicine students study the cardiovascular system, they often have trouble learning how to interpret normal and pathological electrocardiograms. This is an objective reality that we come across year after year, evidenced by the students' responses in the subject assessment surveys and also when evaluating their knowledge of basic electrocardiography (taught in their second year) before starting the subject in their third year. The answers to questions about simple electrocardiogram calculations are 68-81% correct, which drops to 33-53% for questions on advanced ECG interpretation. 

The use of social networks in the field of health sciences is widespread in terms of professional use and scientific dissemination (scientific societies, medical journals and clinical leaders). This was why the teaching staff for the subject decided to survey the students to see how much they use social media in their day to day lives, and whether they thought it might prove useful to help solidify some aspects of their learning. We conducted an ad-hoc survey which was able to verify that 96% use it on a regular basis, mostly WhatsApp and Instagram. When asked if they thought it would be helpful for improving their academic learning, 69.6% answered yes, but only 20% had previously used it for this purpose.  

How do you use social media to help students?

Looking at the results of the same survey, 91% found social media useful for sharing educational resources, 86% felt it could help improve teaching and 93% thought that would encourage teaching staff and students to exchange experiences. The same students also told us that it might be helpful to create a social media account with examples of electrocardiographs and clinical case resolutions. 

At this point, we passed on our idea to the dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and once the initiative had been approved, we created an official account for the subject for third-year medicine students with the help of the Communication team called @CardioUIC. Clinical cardiology cases of electrocardiograms are posted each week and we ask multiple-choice questions using Instagram’s “Stories” feature. As well as the instant replies students get when they answer (whether they get the question right or not), the reasoned solution is posted the following day. The examples are chosen specially by the subject’s teaching staff and have the same structure as the textbooks they use in class, with a varying degree of difficulty. 

How have students responded to the initiative?

A total of 96 students follow the @CardioUIC account, where we have been publishing a new case every Monday at 3 p.m. from 25 January 2021. More than 85% of followers often interact with clinical cases, between 60 and 75% answer the “Stories” questions and more than 85% of students review the solution. A few weeks after going live, we asked them whether they thought the application was useful for their learning, and 100% of them answered yes. 

What academic differences have you noticed in students since you started using this tool?

For the moment it is too soon to reach a conclusion. At the end of the academic year, we plan to analyse whether students’ electrocardiograph interpretation skills have improved. 

Do you think you will keep using this tool for future year groups? If so, why?

Initially yes, although we will re-survey the acceptance rate at the end of the year and think about incorporating any improvements proposed by our students.

What are the biggest hurdles you have encountered in implementing this tool?

It has not been difficult to implement. The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has been a huge help. He believed in the project’s potential from the beginning. The University's social media manager also helped out a great deal and the students have worked together to answer most of the questions on the clinical cases. If we had to highlight one area that has proved difficult, it would be obtaining clear examples of electrocardiographs of rare pathologies. 

Would you recommend using social media as a learning strategy? If so, why?

Social media can help to increase interaction with students, especially now as we are having to adapt to the measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that most of them use it every day and therefore we can focus on specific aspects of the subject on top of those that we explore during lectures or work placements. 

What role can social media play in scientific dissemination? 

Social media helps professionals keep their knowledge up to date (and therefore also students), not only through scientific dissemination and debate, but also by providing a platform for sharing discoveries that are sometimes not published in journals or indexed in reference databases. They create forums for discussion and allow interaction between different stakeholders.