Challenges and Opportunities in Using Twitter as a Pedagogical Tool in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Education

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Even though the benefits of using Twitter for teaching and information exchange within the pathology community are primarily undisputed, a fair number of users refrain from sharing educational content on this social media platform. The survey aims to identify challenges in using Twitter as a pedagogical tool and discuss ways of converting those challenges into opportunities. Methods We performed a cross-sectional survey-based study involving 174 participants from the pathology community on Twitter. Results The results demonstrated that procurement of content was the major challenge faced by 36.2% of the participants, with most participants being concerned or very concerned regarding institutional policies and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act issues. Content procurement concerns were followed by social media inertia, stated by 23% of the participants as an obstacle to posting educational content on Twitter. Conclusions The report helps elicit some common obstacles faced by the pathology and laboratory medicine community and allows us to recommend solutions to overcome these obstacles.