Cytopathology in the era of social media

Swikrity Baskota; Nada Shaker; Ronald Balassanian; Poonam Vohra

doi:10.1002/dc.25339

Cytopathology in the era of social media

Diagn Cytopathol. 2024 May 7. doi: 10.1002/dc.25339. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Swikrity Baskota¹, Nada Shaker², Ronald Balassanian³, Poonam Vohra³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, California, USA.
² Department of Anatomic Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center/James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
³ Department of Anatomic Pathology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

PMID: 38712619
DOI: 10.1002/dc.25339

Abstract

In today's medical landscape, social media (SoMe) platforms have expanded their reach beyond mere communication and entertainment, making a significant impact in the pathology field, including cytopathology. In recent years, SoMe platforms have become increasingly adopted by cytopathologists, facilitating continued education, professional networking, enhancing patient engagement, and entertainment. This adoption has influenced the professional growth of cytopathologists, and at its best, has led to the establishment of a robust professional online presence and ultimately contributed to leadership positions, fellowship opportunities, and academic promotions. Moreover, the integration of SoMe into the academic field has shown a profound impact on the visibility of academic journals and has provided a platform for lower-impact factor journals to expand their reach, ultimately increasing article citation rates and positively contributing to journal impact factor growth. SoMe platforms created a modern avenue for conference networking that has revolutionized knowledge dissemination and enhanced real-time engagement. The advantages of SoMe have extended to a global scale, positively enhancing professional expertise sharing, facilitating effective communication and teleconsultation worldwide, and reaching developing countries. Drawing insights from the recent medical literature and the practical insight from the experts' personal experience, this article provides a comprehensive review of how SoMe and cytopathology intersect to create new opportunities, facilitating informed discussions, global collaboration, and advancements in the field of cytopathology. This article also delves into the challenges surrounding SoMe platform navigation and addresses ethical and regulatory concerns, providing guidelines on what to post and what not to post on SoMe platforms.

Keywords: Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn; Twitter X; collaboration; cytopathology; cytopathology hashtags; cytopathology journals; digital cytopathology; education; global cytopathology; professional networking; social media platforms.

Publication types

Review