Social media in undergraduate medical education: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: There are over 3.81 billion worldwide active social media (SoMe) users. SoMe are ubiquitous in medical education, with roles across undergraduate programmes, including professionalism, blended learning, well being and mentoring. Previous systematic reviews took place before recent explosions in SoMe popularity and revealed a paucity of high-quality empirical studies assessing its effectiveness in medical education. This review aimed to synthesise evidence regarding SoMe interventions in undergraduate medical education, to identify features associated with positive and negative outcomes. METHODS: Authors searched 31 key terms through seven databases, in addition to references, citation and hand searching, between 16 June and 16 July 2020. Studies describing SoMe interventions and research on exposure to existing SoMe were included. Title, abstract and full paper screening were undertaken independently by two reviewers. Included papers were assessed for methodological quality using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) and/or the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) instrument. Extracted data were synthesised using narrative synthesis. RESULTS: 112 studies from 26 countries met inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of included studies had not significantly improved since 2013. Engagement and satisfaction with SoMe platforms in medical education are described. Students felt SoMe flattened hierarchies and improved communication with educators. SoMe use was associated with improvement in objective knowledge assessment scores and self-reported clinical and professional performance, however evidence for long term knowledge retention was limited. SoMe use was occasionally linked to adverse impacts upon mental and physical health. Professionalism was heavily investigated and considered important, though generally negative correlations between SoMe use and medical professionalism may exist. CONCLUSIONS: Social media is enjoyable for students who may improve short term knowledge retention and can aid communication between learners and educators. However, higher-quality study is required to identify longer-term impact upon knowledge and skills, provide clarification on professionalism standards and protect against harms

Possibility of using superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase as endometriosis biomarkers

Sophapun Ekarattanawong,1 Chamnan Tanprasertkul,2 Charintip Somprasit,2 Pholasit Chamod,1 Rattana Tiengtip,1 Kornkarn Bhamarapravatana,1 Komsun Suwannarurk2 1Department of Preclinical Science, 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand Objective: To study the possibility of using superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) as combined preoperative biomarkers for endometriosis. Participants and methods: Female patients aged between 18 and 45 years old who came to the Gynecology outpatient clinic, Thammasat University Hospital, during September 2013–2016 with the complaint of gynecologic symptoms suspected of endometriosis, and who were positively diagnosed with endometriosis, were included in this study. All patients underwent conservative laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy with histopathological report. The control group consisted of healthy females of reproductive age who came to the outpatient clinic. The plasma SOD and GPx were measured from blood samples with commercial kits. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated for plasma activity of SOD, GPx, and combined tests. The cutoff values were selected at the most appropriate sensitivity and specificity. Result: All 36 cases were included in this study. Mean ages of patients in the patient and control groups were 33.1 and 28.6 years old, respectively. SOD and GPx activities of disease and control group were 6.15 and 8.11, 463.9 and 472.34 nmole/min/mL unit, respectively. The sensitivity and 1–specificity of the combined test were calculated at 0.78, with sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value being 68.75, 80.77, 76.50, 69.23, and 80.33, respectively. Conclusion: A combination testing of SOD and GPx can possibly be used as preoperative biomarker for endometriosis. Keywords: superoxide dismutase, SOD, glutathione peroxidase, GPx, endometriosis, laparoscopy, endometriosis biomarke