ABSTRACT
Social media platforms (SMPs) are internet-based tools which support and promote the exchange of user-developed content, allowing individuals and communities to communicate electronically. The proliferation of SMP use over the past decade has coincided with a continued surge of interest in global health by medical trainees. While guidelines exist for SMP use in many US medical schools and residency programmes, social media savvy medical trainees are pursuing short-term experiences in global health (STEGH) without specific guidance on how to conduct themselves in the digital world during their time abroad. There are increasing reports in the medical literature of successful social media-driven campaigns, from medical students using SMPs for health promotion as part of the Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Guinea to public health researchers exploring the use of social media to deliver HIV information to patients and combat stigma.
