Doctors prescribe cure for social malaise
Personal learning networks link medical providers worldwide
When she joined Twitter in 2010, Dr. Iris Thiele Isip Tan didn’t set out to create a personal learning network. It just naturally happened.
“I didn’t know about PLNs before,” she said.
Tan is an internist-endocrinologist, clinical associate professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and chief of the Medical Informatics Unit at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.
When she attends conferences, she asks other doctors if more of them are on Twitter. The good news is yes, they are.
The bad news is that the usual accounts they follow are the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
“The first tweets about traffic conditions and the second about the weather,” Tan said.
The other healthcare providers tell Tan “they hadn’t realized Twitter can be used to keep up with the lifelong learning physicians need to do.”
Doctors need to work on their PLNs, and Tan wants to do her part.
“A personal learning network is the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information,” she said.
“The people in your personal learning network are the people you trust,” Tan said. “With curation of who you follow, the Twitter feed becomes a trustworthy source of information.”
To establish a PLN, follow people who interest you. Hone in on their tweets and replies to see who engages in conversations — not just blurting out wisdom with no replies beyond thank you. If they don’t talk with others, they likely won’t talk to you.
Create a Twitter list for your personal learning network. As you see possibilities — you don’t have to follow them — add them to your list. Then you can keep up with what’s new without getting hopelessly lost looking for them again on your timeline.
“Check out profiles of people colleagues follow on Twitter. Scan their tweets. If what they post interests you, hit Follow,” said Dr. Sids Manahan, a rheumatologist.
“Twitter’s app also has suggestions on who to follow based on your interests,” he said. “Browse them from time to time. Who you find may just help you grow.”
Feels good
Manahan said PLNs on Twitter fill a need when the feeling’s right.
“I’ve created lists in the past — rheum colleagues, news, entertainment, presentations,” he said. “I read through tweets in a list depending on my mood, just like a music playlist.
“Whenever I attend conferences or webinars, I search if speakers are on Twitter, particularly if I like their talk,” Manahan said.
Pharmacist Jarvin Tan is a newcomer to personal learning networks.
“I stumbled across this concept just a few months ago,” he said. “The first account I found was The Mental Elf, which tweeted about the EBMentalHealth_BMJ Google hangouts session on the Andrea Cipriani network.
“The rest is history,” Tan said. “All it took was following one active blog. I would discover interesting people to follow through the retweets.”
Virtually there
He also has made connections through virtual attendance.
“I found new people to follow when I saw Dr. Stephanie Miaco was at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2018 Congress,” Tan said. “It was great that other conference attendees were also on the #RANZCP2018 hashtag.”
Like social media in general, personal learning networks enhance reciprocity.
“Use lists and be authentic,” said healthcare strategist Shereese Maynard. “Lists allows you to build a tribe of industry-related, interest-related real people. Give what you get, authenticity.
“Try lists, and then look at your analytics,” she said. “Your followers will grow, and your content will be shared more.”
As much as personal learning networks help people reach out, filter bubbles threaten to confine them in their own little world.
In his TED Talk, an online organizer and author of “The Filter Bubble,” Eli Pariser, talks about unintended consequences of the internet:
As web companies strive to tailor their services — including news and search results — to our personal tastes, there’s a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a “filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. This will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.
“That’s why I tied up the establishment of personal learning networks to filter bubbles and fake news on Twitter,” Iris Tan said. “It’s about building trust.”
Surprising bias
Trust is tested when social media algorithms and search engines deliver individually tailored pictures of the world. Two people might think they have unbiased points of view of the world — and each might be wrong.
“Sometimes I follow people from the other side of the fence just so I can see things from their POV,” Manahan said. “I just wish some people weren’t so hot-headed.”
Jarvan Tan said it’s best to take the extra effort to consult the original source without the bubble filter.
“The basic lesson is to refer to the original article, always,” he said. “This makes sense, but it’s difficult in the context of juggling other tasks.”
Live tweeting at conferences is another way to grow personal learning networks.
“What better way to share diverse points of view on a shared interest,” Maynard said. “Live-tweeting conferences casts a wide net in a healthcare community. Readers don’t have to be there to benefit from thought leadership.”
Rather than attend conferences, attendance might dwindle as people follow social media feeds instead.
“I suppose it’s a rational fear, but I believe social media has actually brought conference popularity to a new place,” Maynard said. “People — formerly unaware of many conferences — find out about them through social, and attend.”
Diversity lag
Her own conference attendance slowed, but not due to online issues. Maynard encountered cultural slights and social media cluelessness.
“I’d stopped attending conferences because of the lack of diversity,” she said. “But social has brought the issue to light, with many women, patients, and minorities demanding to be included. Social media did that.
“I find it vexing that some conference organizers still haven’t adopted official hashtags,” Maynard said. “It helps to bring a conference into focus: the right content, at the right time, to the right audience.”
Whether at conferences or elsewhere, personal learning networks need nurturing to grow.
“Like all skills, spend time on Twitter,” Manahan said. “Read, engage, share and learn. Your PLN won’t grow if you hardly interact.
“Live tweet during conferences and meetings,” he said. “Don’t forget to respond to those who like and comment.”
Say hello
Don’t be taken aback when you get replies.
“I remember at one conference where trainees and fellows were assigned to tweet,” Iris Tan said. “No one wanted to reply when I asked questions. I guess they were spooked when someone tweeted them back.”
She also pushed back on worries about tweeting at conferences.
“I once had a conversation with a conference organizer who was afraid no one would come to the conference anymore and just follow the feed,” Tan said. “I said, on the contrary, there are those who may consider going next time if they find the conference content interesting because of the tweets.”
Those in charge of conferences also need to know the finer points of social media.
“There was a time that conferences had hashtags to be ‘in’ but didn’t really use them on Twitter,” Tan said. “Hence, there were some very long hashtags.”
She urged everyone to take the initiative to create their own personal learning network. Have what suits you best. If you wait for others to act for you, you might have a long wait.
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
