Contemporary social network sites: Relevance in anesthesiology teaching, training, and research.

OBJECTIVE: The phenomenal popularity of social networking sites has been used globally by medical professionals to boost professional associations and scientific developments. They have tremendous potential to forge professional liaisons, generate employment,upgrading skills and publicizing scientific achievements. We highlight the role of social networking mediums in influencing teaching, training and research in anaesthesiology.

BACKGROUND: The growth of social networking sites have been prompted by the limitations of previous facilities in terms of ease of data and interface sharing and the amalgamation of audio visual aids on common platforms in the newer facilities.

REVIEW: Contemporary social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,Linkedn etc and their respective features based on anaesthesiology training or practice have been discussed. A host of advantages which these sites confer are also discussed. Likewise the potential pitfalls and drawbacks of these facilities have also been addressed.

CONCLUSION: Social networking sites have immense potential for development of training and research in Anaesthesiology. However responsible and cautious utilization is advocated.