Ethical standards for cardiothoracic surgeons' participation in social media

Online Survey Evaluation of Three Years of European Society of Thoracic Surgeons Educational Webinars as Part of The E-learning Platform

BACKGROUND

E-learning has become an important tool in surgical education in the last decade. The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons launched its e-learning platform in 2013 and started its educational webinars series in 2018. The aim of this paper is to discuss the introduction, evolution and impact of the educational webinars within this e-learning platform.

METHODS

Twenty-four English spoken webinars discussing different subdomains in general thoracic surgery (21 expert talks, 2 pro-con debates and 1 multidisciplinary case discussion) were analyzed. An online questionnaire on timing, quality and technical aspects of the webinars was sent to 3012 registrants.

RESULTS

The webinars reached 3128 unique registrants from 76 countries worldwide. The mean number of registrants was 355 with 171 live attendees (48%) and 155 replay watchers (36%). Hundred and twenty-six attendees (13.1% of people who registered for at least 4 webinars) completed the questionnaire. Timing and duration of the webinars were rated "very good" to "excellent" in 78%, and the quality of the webinar content and the expertise of the webinar presenters were rated "very good" to "excellent" in 88% and 90%, respectively. The impact on knowledge and clinical practice was scored with a weighted average of 7.27 out of 10 and 6.79 out of 10, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The ESTS educational webinars were effective in delivering up-to-date knowledge to almost half of the countries around the globe. The impact of these events on knowledge and clinical practice were rated high. New e-learning tools should be added to the surgical educational curriculum.

Social media in surgery: evolving role in research communication and beyond

PURPOSE

To present social media (SoMe) platforms for surgeons, how these are used, with what impact, and their roles for research communication.

METHODS

A narrative review based on a literature search regarding social media use, of studies and findings pertaining to surgical disciplines, and the authors' own experience.

RESULTS

Several social networking platforms for surgeons are presented to the reader. The more frequently used, i.e., Twitter, is presented with details of opportunities, specific fora for communication, presenting tips for effective use, and also some caveats to use. Details of how the surgical community evolved through the use of the hashtag #SoMe4Surgery are presented. The impact on gender diversity in surgery through important hashtags (from #ILookLikeASurgeon to #MedBikini) is discussed. Practical tips on generating tweets and use of visual abstracts are presented, with influence on post-production distribution of journal articles through "tweetorials" and "tweetchats." Findings from seminal studies on SoMe and the impact on traditional metrics (regular citations) and alternative metrics (Altmetrics, including tweets, retweets, news outlet mentions) are presented. Some concerns on misuse and SoMe caveats are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Over the last two decades, social media has had a huge impact on science dissemination, journal article discussions, and presentation of conference news. Immediate and real-time presentation of studies, articles, or presentations has flattened hierarchy for participation, debate, and engagement. Surgeons should learn how to use novel communication technology to advance the field and further professional and public interaction.

Women in thoracic surgery: social media and the value of mentorship

Social media serves as a tool to fill gaps in current efforts to promote women in cardiothoracic surgery, and, given its global reach, may be a particularly effective modality. Social media has an important role in networking and mentorship, especially for women seeking careers in specialties with relatively sparse female representation, such as cardiothoracic surgery. In addition, social media may facilitate professional interactions, collaboration, growth of online reputations, engagement in continued education, communication of novel research findings, and patient education. Herein, we review the evidence for social media in the networking and mentorship of women in cardiothoracic surgery. Future studies are needed to establish the durability of social media efforts and predictors in its effectiveness in achieving its goals.

Predictors of High-Impact Articles in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND

Altmetric scores are increasingly used as nontraditional metrics of scholarly impact that capture article social media attention. This study aims to characterize articles from The Annals of Thoracic Surgery that achieved the greatest online reach over a longitudinal period.

METHODS

The 50 articles with the highest Altmetric scores published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery for 2013, 2015, and 2017 were identified. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation of Altmetric scores with citations. Independent predictors of Altmetric scores (25 or greater) were identified through univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Over time, article Altmetric scores increased significantly (2013, 11.9; 2015, 24.8; and 2017, 75.3; P < .001); with more authors on Twitter in recent years to disseminate scholarly work (2013, 10%; 2015, 20%; and 2017, 42%; P < .001). Recent articles attracted greater attention from news outlets (2013, 1.02; 2015, 2.36; and 2017, 7.48; P < .001) and tweets (2013, 1.84; 2015, 6.68; and 2017, 27.8; P < .001), reaching a larger readership through Twitter (2013, 4210; 2015, 19,300; and 2017, 66,800; P < .001). Log-transformed Altmetric scores were correlated with log-transformed citations for articles published in 2017 (r_s = 0.40; P = .02). On multivariable analysis, tweets (odds ratio = 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.61; P = .044) and mentions by news outlets (odds ratio = 30.49; 95% confidence interval, 4.03-230.16; P = .001) were predictive of high Altmetric scores.

CONCLUSIONS

This longitudinal analysis demonstrates that social media attention related to top performing articles has increased in recent years. Social media is an effective tool to increase article reach and knowledge translation, with Altmetric scores that correlated with citations.