Using LinkedIn for Continuing Community of Practice Among Hand Surgeons Worldwide

BACKGROUND: Hand surgeons need continuing professional development due to rapid advancement in the field. Traditional approaches have proven to be challenging due to the nature of surgical practice and other demands. Social media sites have shown the potential to build an online community of practice. METHODS: One of the authors (VR) started Hand Surgery International on LinkedIn in February 2011. RESULTS: The number of members increased from 38 in the beginning to 4106 members by August 13, 2015, with members from all over the world. Half of them are from plastic surgery, with 16.8% hand and 17.8% orthopedic surgery; 63.8% of them are consultants. There were 151 discussion topics, which generated 1238 comments at an average of 8.2 comments per discussion thread. The topics focused on management of difficult patients, seeking consensus, and searching information. The features participants found most useful included case-based discussion, polls/surveys, and network opportunity. Members perceived the LinkedIn community as user-friendly and easy to use. It does not require significant technical knowledge. For the question "How would you rate the overall ease of using this platform?" 42% answered "strongly agree" and 37% "agree". CONCLUSION: The LinkedIn group serves as an effective means for continuing professional development for hand surgeons.