A survey on the perception of health degree students on the use of Instagram and TikTok as learning tools

• Autores: Silvia Garrido, Beatriz Losa García, María Caballero, Alexandra Alvarez, Genny Raffaeli, Giacomo Cavallaro, Maria-Lorella Gianni, Felipe Garrido Martinez de Salazar
• Localización: Educación médica, ISSN 1575-1813, Vol. 26, Nº. 4, 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.edumed.2025.101044
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Ejemplar
• Resumen
  • español

    Resumen Introducción Existe una limitada literatura académica en relación con la utilidad de Instagram y TikTok, que sin embargo son muy utilizadas por los estudiantes de grado. Teniendo en cuenta esto, nuestro grupo de investigación ha llevado a cabo un estudio destinado a evaluar la percepción de los estudiantes universitarios de ciencias de la salud con respecto a las referidas redes sociales como herramientas de aprendizaje. Métodos Se distribuyó una encuesta en línea de 23 preguntas a estudiantes de grado de ciencias de la salud de tres universidades españolas. Las preguntas estaban relacionadas principalmente con el uso general de las redes sociales en el entorno educativo universitario, pero se centraron en Instagram y TikTok. Resultados Los estudiantes identificaron Instagram (68%) y YouTube (39%) como las redes sociales más cómodas para aprender. El 75% de los estudiantes indicó que seguía cuentas de Instagram sobre medicina o enfermería, y el 47% de estas cuentas carecían de afiliaciones universitarias aparentes. Uno de cada tres estudiantes seguía cuentas de TikTok asociadas con medicina o enfermería, y el 63% de estas cuentas parecían no estar afiliadas a la universidad. Conclusiones Los estudiantes de medicina y enfermería están interesados en buscar contenido práctico complementario de aprendizaje en fuentes no académicas, en particular en las redes sociales más nuevas como Instagram y TikTok. Mejorar la comprensión de dicho contenido, en particular por parte del profesorado universitario, puede mejorar la orientación ofrecida a los estudiantes de dicha información.

  • English

    Introduction Limited academic literature has reviewed the usefulness of Instagram and TikTok, which degree students extensively use. Considering this gap, our research group has undertaken a study aimed at elucidating the perspectives of health sciences university students regarding the referred social media as learning tools. Methods An online 23-question survey was distributed to undergraduate health sciences degree students across three Spanish universities. The questions were primarily related to the general usage of social media within the university educational environment, but they focused on Instagram and TikTok. Results Students identified Instagram (68%) and YouTube (39%) as the most comfortable social networks for learning. Seventy-five percent of students indicated that they followed Instagram accounts about medicine or nursing, with 47% of these accounts lacking apparent university affiliations. One in three students followed TikTok accounts associated with medicine or nursing, with 63% of these accounts appearing to be non-university affiliated. Conclusions Medical and nursing students are interested in seeking practical supplementary learning content from non-academic sources, particularly on the newest social networks like Instagram and TikTok. Improving the understanding of such content by university faculty can improve the guidance offered to students of such information.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • 1. Ho V, Nguyen A, Kumar K. Social media for learning: a qualitative exploration of the factors that impact clinical learners’ attitudes and...
  • 2. Chan R. Social media in medical education: can you trust it? No. EMA - Emerg Med Australas. 2018;30(3):418–9.
  • 3. Paes ST, Scapim SN, De Lade CG, Moura HB de, Oliveira HZ de, Coelho FD, et al. Is it possible to teach good health practices using social...
  • 4. Ravi D, Chandran S, Sreedaran P. Social media use for disseminating mental health information by medical students. J Psychiatry Spectr....
  • 5. Petranova D, Hossova M. Critical thinking as a key competency. 2016;(Icassr 2015):244–8.
  • 6. Cheston CC, Flickinger TE, Chisolm MS. Social media use in medical education: a systematic review. Acad Med. 2013;88(6): 893–901.
  • 7. Al-Maroof R, Ayoubi K, Alhumaid K, Aburayya A, Alshurideh M, Alfaisal R, et al. The acceptance of social media video for knowledge acquisition,...
  • 8. Ganjoo R, Schwartz L, Barzani Y, Firmani M. Exploring Instagram to promote student engagement in an online didactic environment. J Microbiol...
  • 9. Khlaif ZN, Salha S. Using TikTok in education: a form of microlearning or nano-learning? Interdiscip J Virtual Learn Med Sci. 2021;12(3):2–7.
  • 10. Comp G, Dyer S, Gottlieb M. Is TikTok the next social media frontier for medicine?, vol. 5 AEM Education and Training: John Wiley and...
  • 11. Humphrey-Murto S, Varpio L, Wood TJ, Gonsalves C, Ufholz LA, Mascioli K, et al. The use of the delphi and other consensus group methods...
  • 12. Price AM, Devis K, LeMoine G, Crouch S, South N, Hossain R. First year nursing students use of social media within education: results...
  • 14. Garrido Martínez Salazar F, García Fernández PM, Gambra Arzoz MI, Moreno Villares JM, Sánchez Carpintero R. Preferencias de
  • 13. Yarris LM, Chan TM, Gottlieb M, Juve AM. Finding your people in the digital age: virtual communities of practice to promote education...
  • 15. Thamman R, Gulati M, Narang A, Utengen A, Mamas MA, Bhatt DL. Twitter-based learning for continuing medical education? Eur Heart J. 2020:1–3.
  • 16. Freberg K, Kim CM. Social media education: industry leader recommendations for curriculum and faculty competencies. J Mass Commun Educ....
  • 17. Garcia N, Brooks ME. Social media takeover: using experiential learning to teach social media marketing. Commun Teach. 2023;37(1):57–63.
  • 18. Sterling M, Leung P, Wright D, Bishop TF. The use of social media in graduate medical education: a systematic review. Acad Med. 2017;92(7):1043–56.
  • 19. Liu C, Sharma S. Resident-as-teacher to provide multidisciplinary online medical education on Instagram. Can Med Educ J. 2021;12(5):61–3.
  • 20. Katz M, Nandi N. Social media and medical education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: scoping review. JMIR Med Educ. 2021;7(2):e25892.
  • 21. Gulati RR, Reid H, Gill M. Instagram for peer teaching: opportunity and challenge. Educ Prim Care. 2020;31(6):382–4.
  • 22. Passarelli E, Siddique M, Fry L, Hickman L, Propst K. Perineal lacerations and social media: can patients find reliable information on...
  • 23. Nguyen VH, Lyden ER, Yoachim SD. Using Instagram as a tool to enhance anatomy learning at two US dental schools. J Dent Educ. 2021;85(9):1525–35.
  • 24. D’Amico RS, Immidisetti AV, Katz J, White T, Bedi A, Baum G, et al. Web-based education and social media increase access to careers in...
  • 25. Douglas NKM, Scholz M, Myers MA, Rae SM, Elmansouri A, Hall S, et al. Reviewing the role of Instagram in education: can a photo sharing...
  • 26. Fung ICH, Blankenship EB, Ahweyevu JO, Cooper LK, Duke CH, Carswell SL, et al. Public health implications of image-based social media:...
  • 27. Comp G, Dyer S, Gottlieb M. Is TikTok the next social media frontier for medicine? AEM Educ Train. 2021;5(3):1–4.
  • 28. Dash NR, Hasswan AA, Dias JM, Abdullah N, Eladl MA, Khalaf K, et al. The educational use of social networking sites among medical and...
  • 29. de Gagne JC, Park HK, Hall K, Woodward A, Yamane S, Kim SS. Microlearning in health professions education: scoping review. JMIR Med Educ....
  • 30. Rosa-Castillo A, García-Pañella O, Maestre-Gonzalez E, PulpónSegura A, Roselló-Novella A, Solà-Pola M. Gamification on Instagram: nursing...
  • 31. Shah V, Kotsenas AL. Social media Tips to enhance medical education. Acad Radiol. 2017;24(6):747–52.
  • 32. Shrivastava SRBL, Shrivastava PS. Utilizing the tool of TikTok in medicine, public health, and medical education. Med J Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth....
  • 33. Nikookam Y, Guckian J. TikTokTM and dermatology: lessons for medical education. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2021;46(5):952–3