title: Maintaining a Twitter Feed to Advance an Internal Medicine Residency Program's Educational Mission.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Residency programs face many challenges in educating learners. The millennial generation's learning preferences also force us to reconsider how to reach physicians in training. Social media is emerging as a viable tool for advancing curricula in graduate medical education.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors sought to understand how social media enhances a residency program's educational mission.
  
  
  METHODS
  While chief residents in the 2013-2014 academic year, two of the authors (PB, AN) maintained a Twitter feed for their academic internal medicine residency program. Participants included the chief residents and categorical internal medicine house staff.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the year's end, the authors surveyed residents about uses and attitudes toward this initiative. Residents generally found the chief residents' tweets informative, and most residents (42/61, 69%) agreed that Twitter enhanced their overall education in residency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data from this single-site intervention corroborate that Twitter can strengthen a residency program's educational mission. The program's robust following on Twitter outside of the home program also suggests a need for wider adoption of social media in graduate medical education. Improved use of data analytics and dissemination of these practices to other programs would lend additional insight into social media's role in improving residents' educational experiences.
authors.affiliation: General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States. pbergl@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9406-2792
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Bergl
authors.forename: Akhil
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9248-808X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narang
authors.forename: Vineet M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4745-7599
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Arora
keywords: Internet/ethics; Twitter messaging; medical education; social media