Instagram as a Learning Tool in Neurology: A Prospective Study
Abstract Background: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were remarkable changes in people’s lifestyle with a tendency to spend more time on social media rendering its platforms essential in all fields. This study was designed to look at the potential role of Instagram as a learning tool in neurology among Saint Joseph University (Beirut, Lebanon) medical students.Methods: This prospective study was spread over the period of 3 months, between the 10th of October and the 10th of December 2020. The target population was the medical students at Saint Joseph University (Beirut, Lebanon) in their 3rd to 7th academic year. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of the Instagram page called “La Synapse” on the students’ answers to ten neurology multiple choice questions (MCQs) before and after their exposure to the page’s content. The evaluation was done through a questionnaire conceived on Google Forms that also covered demographical characteristics, social media usage for educational purposes and their feedback post-exposure. In addition, we intended to evaluate the students’ opinion on using social media as a learning tool. The results were analyzed by comparing the pre-exposure and post-exposure data.Results: A total of 180 students were enrolled in the pre-exposure questionnaire (40% of the entire population) and 107 (59.44%) out of the initial group participated in the post-exposure questionnaire. Most students (81%) already used social media for educational purposes with YouTube being the most popular (51%). After exposure, 95% said to have profited from the experience but the junior students benefited more than the seniors. “Mnemonics” were the most practical learning strategy (44%) according to the participants. Regarding the MCQs, an improvement was found in seven out of the ten questions, with three having a statistically significant upswing (p < 0,05).Conclusions: The Instagram page “La Synapse” was an efficient tool for transmitting neurological information to medical students. These results should encourage the development of future prospective studies to better explore the role of social media in medical education.