Social Media Presence as a Sonographer

When I conducted my personal social media audit, I noticed a few key points. The first is that I do not have a strong social media presence online, limiting most of my activity to Instagram and Facebook on a personal level. I prioritize using these platforms to connect with friends and family.

The second observation is that I have no professional presence. I do not share healthcare related news, opinions, or engage in any dialogue regarding healthcare delivery. This is because I am concerned about conflicts of interest or overstepping my professional role as a sonographer. The third observation is that I am doing myself a disservice by not taking a more active role in my professional presence online.

Social media can be a valuable tool for connecting with other members of the community and can be an educational opportunity (Fox & Bird, 2017). As I plan to grow beyond the scope of a clinical sonographer and towards a more public health role, it is important to start representing myself in a professional capacity online for networking opportunities (Forbes, 2019). I also value how the internet can be an excellent opportunity to explore alternative perspectives, on the condition one can manage the algorithms correctly and avoid echo-chambers (O’Connor & Weatherall, 2019). By being open to a larger community than my physical social sphere I have the opportunity online to gain a deeper understanding of fears, misinformation, opinions, struggles, and advancements regarding all personal interest subject matter. This will be invaluable as I grow into a more leadership role for the delivery of public health and promotion.

I want to develop an online professional presence where I can be a neutral voice which fosters evidence-based practices and policies, share advancements in the medical world, and focus on medical literacy. I will include articles, reposts, news stories, and accompany them with a simplified, though accurate, summary of the key findings so that any level of literacy can interact with the content. I value professional accountability, honesty, transparency, and neutrality. An online platform is a great forum to represent these professional values as it is a platform that lends nicely to self-reflection, edits, and updates with science and research. I believe medical literacy is important to foster a healthy community and I want to be part of that movement.

Down to the Nitty Gritty

As a professional of Alberta, Canada, I must uphold the values and expectations set forth by Sonography Canada with whom I am a member, my professional institutions Canada Diagnostic Centres and Alberta Health Services, and the Government of Alberta employee expectations. Fortunately, there is a lot of content overlap as many of these policies reference each other and share common professional values such as patient privacy and confidentiality, patient-centered health, professional integrity, respect and trust, and professional accountability.

Canadian sonographers are accountable for their conduct online as we are considered within a patient’s circle of care and must uphold their autonomy, confidentiality, and privacy. As such our national governing body, Sonography Canada, has created a professional policy which outlines the professional expectations. Social media is not discouraged, in fact it is a valuable communication tool which can foster educational opportunities and grow an enriching professional network (Kaklij et al, 2019). However as public health employees, sonographers are expected to represent themselves and their healthcare governing bodies online and uphold the Code of Ethics and Code of Conducts for their region (Alberta Health Services, 2023). Failure to comply may result in disciplinary action either through their institution or through the national governing body. Some guidelines outlined in the social media policy discuss the importance of distinguishing between professional obligation and opinion, and to avoid conflict of interest. There are also specific points to help sonographers uphold these guidelines such as not sharing patient stories or images even if the patient identifiers have been removed, comply with local laws and institutional mandates, and understand the privacy clauses in all social media platforms (Sonography Canada).

Professional and Personal Values

I am committed to expanding my community and those I follow. I have reviewed the professional guidelines, and they all recommend separating personal from professional platforms, which is in line with current research (Forbes, 2019). To this end I have created professional X and LinkedIn accounts which I will use to connect with a wider professional community focusing on public health and will make consorted effort to maintain boundaries between each platform (Lambrev & Cruz, 2023). I have restricted my personal social media platforms so that potential employers can get a sense of who I am socially without having unlimited access to my personal life. My personal social media audit did not reveal any concerning posts as the content was benign and focused on travel adventures, but I do not wish the public to have unmitigated access to my personal life. I value this separation and believe it will create a stronger, more intentional online presence.

I am fortunate to be aligned with the professional principles of my governing body and employment institutions. I value accountability, honesty, integrity, and have a keen interest in accessible science communication for all. That is why I have harnessed an eProfile which is centred around approachability and eduation. I hope to be a voice which promotes accurate information and dispels misinformation. I hope through this ePortfolio that everyone realizes that science is accessible regardless of their experience or past education background.

References

Alberta Health Services. (2023, March). Code of Conduct. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/policies/ahs-pub-code-of-conduct.pdf

Alberta Health Services. (2011, October 11). Social Media Policy. https://extranet.ahsnet.ca/teams/policydocuments/1/clp-ahs-pol-social-media.pdf

Forbes, D. (2019). Professional Online Presence and Learning Networks: Educating for Ethical Use of Social Media. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7). 10.19173/irrodl.v18i7.2826.

Fox, A., & Bird, T. (2017). The Challenge to Professionals of Using Social Media: Teachers in England Negotiating Personal-Professional Identities. Education and Information Technologies, 22(2), 647-675.

Kaklij, V.A., Shah, K.V., Makwandar, U. (2019). Microlearning Based Content-curation Using Artificial Intelligence for Learning Experience Platform: A Survey. Internation Journal of Research and Analytical Review, 6(4), 580-584.

Lambrev, V.S. & Bárbara C. Cruz, B.C. (2023). Facilitating cognitive presence in online professional doctoral education: implications for practice-based programs. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47:7, 889-900.DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2023.2200134.

O’Connor, C & Weatherall, J.O. (2019). The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread. Yale University Press.

Sonography Canada. (2018). Professional Practice Guidelines and Member Policies. https://sonographycanada.ca/app/uploads/2019/11/PPGuideline-and-Policies-Sept-2018-FINAL.pdf