In this new era of social media, medical schools must do more to ensure that online medical professionalism among trainees is understood, discussed and practiced, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Medical trainees and other health professionals are privy to confidential patient information, and professionalism and discretion are important to ensure patient trust and privacy. Unprofessional behaviour, such as that exhibited by male dental students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, can undermine this confidence and the profession as a whole.

"Social media threatens professional behaviour through its deceptive blurring of the boundary between public and private," write Drs. Moneeza Walji and Matthew Stanbrook, CMAJ. "Medical educators must begin modelling professionalism online the way they currently do in person. They will likely only occur only do so when medical curricula explicitly require use of social media as a component of teaching."

Editorial: Health professionalism must be ensured online and offline, Moneeza Walji MD MPH, Matthew B. Stanbrook MD PhD, CMAJ, DOI:10.1503/cmaj.150248, published 7 April 2015.