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Social Media As a Tool for Plastic Surgery Education: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Raquel Nogueira, MD1, Mariana Torves, Medical Student2, Marina Eguchi, MD3, Julia Kasmirski, MD4, Victor Perim, MD4, David L. Tran, MD5, Diego Laurentino Lima, MD6, Dimitri Cardoso Dimatos, MD7, Robert Glatter, MD8, Roy Kim, MD9, Lara Devgan, MD, MPH, FACS10 and Pedro Salomao Piccinini, MD1, (1)Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, (2)University of Vale do Rio, São Leopoldo, Brazil, (3)Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, (4)University of Alabama, Birmingham, (5)New York University, New York, NY, (6)Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, (7)Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil, (8)Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health, New York, NY, (9)Private Practice, San Francisco, CA, (10)Lara Devgan, MD, MPH, FACS, New York, NY
Goals/Purpose:

This systematic review seeks to comprehensively evaluate the utilization of social media platforms in plastic surgery education. By analyzing the content shared on these platforms, we aim to understand how social media is employed to disseminate information among plastic surgeons, residents, and medical students. Additionally, the review will assess the quality and reliability of the content shared on social media to identify potential areas for improvement.

Methods/Technique

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A qualitative systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools (JBI’s) were used to assess the quality of the included studies. A search for studies was made using the following MeSH terms: Social Media OR Social Networking AND Education AND Plastic Surgery on MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, from inception until September 2024 without any filter applied.

Results/Complications

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A total of 641 studies were screened and 32 were fully reviewed. We conducted article extraction, screening, and full text review using the rayyan tool. 9 studies were ultimately included in this review, describing the use of plastic surgery educational content on social media for Plastic Surgeons, Plastic Surgery residents, and Medical Students. All studies were published between 2020 and 2023. Articles varied regarding the population studied, study design, type of education plastic surgery content (surgery topic), and tools used to evaluate these studies.

Conclusion

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Social media platforms and plastic surgery education are ready to become indispensable to plastic surgery training. As technology continues to evolve, substantial progress is made in virtual learning platforms, including immersive experiences and customized learning pathways. Additional studies in the use of social media in plastic surgery medical education are required to fully understand the potential benefits, assess the quality and reliability of these contents, besides identify potential areas for improvement in this new technological tool era.

"Level of Evidence: Level III, Systematic Review Study.”

Study registration A review protocol for this systematic review was registered at PROSPERO CRD42024578314.

Keywords: “Social media”, “Social networking”, “Surgical education”, “Plastic Surgery”.

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