On Tuesday June 1st, we will be hosting a Tweet chat to learn about you, your specialty, and the twists, turns, and considerations it took to get there.

We will be hosting a 1-hour long #SpecialtyChat tweet chat as one component of a larger project to identify medical school educational programs and specialty-specific factors that encourage and discourage women and individuals underrepresented in medicine to pursue anesthesiology as a career.

The tweet chat will be led by Dr. Harriet Hopf from her Twitter account: @HarrietHopfMD, and by Dr. Megha Vipani at @MeghaVipani. Please follow both accounts in preparation for the chat.

What is a Tweet Chat?

A Tweet chat is a live participatory Q & A discussion that happens on Twitter via hashtag. At the start of the hour, you will search Twitter for the #SpecialtyChat hashtag and follow the thread there using the tab called “Latest”.

Our tweet chat will be led by one moderator who asks questions, and all participants will answer the questions. The questions are numbered (e.g. Q1), as are the answers (e.g. A1). For every tweet where you answer a question, you add the designated tweet chat hashtags (#SpecialtyChat & #MedTwitter) at the end. This helps to bring all the responses together under one thread. Engaging with other participants is highly encouraged.

Who Can Participate?

Current or future physicians in training and practicing are invited to participate! A tweet chat is designed to be open and free flowing. All who would like to join in can. There will be an opt out procedure linked out several times during the chat. You can participate in the chat AND opt out. This just means that your tweets will not be used for research purposes. If you want to join the conversation but not be a part of the project, clink on one of the opt-out links during the chat or fill out the form below.

What Will Be Asked?

Below are the questions that will be asked during the chat in consecutive order. Please feel free to prepare your responses ahead of time!

• Please introduce yourself! Share who you are, your level of training, selected specialty, and one boring thing about your day.

• What exposures did you have to medicine before starting medical school that left the biggest impression on you?
• When you first decided to pursue medicine, what type of medicine did you envision yourself practicing?

• I knew I was meant to be a [your specialty] when…  

• For me, going into [your specialty] meant I would be able to…

• Choosing a specialty always involves trade-offs. What trade-offs concerned you when selecting your specialty

• Not all paths to picking a specialty are linear. What other specialties did you consider? What made you turn away from those?

• Is there a specialty you wish you would have been exposed to before picking your specialty? If yes, which and why?

When will the chat take place?

The #SpecialtyChat will take place on Tuesday, June 1st at 8pm EDT/7pm CT/5pm PST. The chat will last one hour.

If you have any comments or questions, please email me or write in the comments. I’m so excited to be able to share this opportunity with you.

Opting Out

If you’re here to opt out, please use the form below.

If you would like to participate in the twitter chat but do not wish to have your responses collected as data for this study, please fill out this form. If you would like your tweets to be included, please leave this form blank.

IRB APPROVED

This study has been approved by the University of Utah IRB. Below is the consent information.