“Reputation, reputation!” — Dr. Victor von Frankenstein
American society used to put a lot more emphasis on respectability and appearing to be respectable. Etiquetteer uses Woodstock as the Point of No Return when considering this issue. After that, everything went to pot . . . in some cases literally. We have relaxed the notion of “respectable people” as defended by Louise Closser Hale in Shanghai Express:
Old and new notions of what’s Perfectly Proper shot above the surface last week with a study published by the Journal of Vascular Surgery regarding “potentially unprofessional” social media content from young vascular surgeons. The backlash from medical professionals resulted in the hashtag #Medbikini, featuring photos of doctors and other medical staff either in bathing suits, drinking alcohol, or both. They made (and continue to make) the point that it is possible to engage in what the study calls “potentially unprofessional behavior” - specifically drinking alcohol, wearing a bathing suit at the beach or pool, and engaging in free speech - in an entirely respectable way.
Etiquetteer does sympathize with the intent of the study, which was to encourage vascular surgeons young in the profession to consider more carefully what potential patients could learn about them on social media. But it shouldn’t take a study to communicate “You might want to change your settings to friends/family only.” The authors now realize their error. One, Dr. Jeff Siracuse, accurately summed up the lesson learned from the backlash: “We realize that the definition of professionalism is rapidly changing in medicine and that we need to support our trainees and surgeons as our society changes without the appearance of judgment.”
“The definition of professionalism is rapidly changing.” The emphasis of the backlash is that doctors can behave responsibly whatever they are doing. One response: “My body is my temple, and treating it as such sets a good example for my patients. Drinking a cocktail while on a well-deserved vacation is not unprofessional.” But this is such a change from the Old Rule of never being photographed with a drink in your hand, which Etiquetteer wrote about in Volume 18. Once upon a time, that was how rumors got started. Now, the rumormongers are more than likely to be called out for spreading Vicious Innuendo. As they should be.
The final takeaways from this Hashtag Brouhaha are that it’s Dangerous to Assume, and that Discretion still has value, even in the age of social media. Changing one’s settings to make posts available to friends only is a) not a bad idea and b) will at least protect you from prying undercover vascular surgeons.