[Air-L] SSN Seminar: 'Social Media and the Contemporary Health Practitioner' with Prof Ian Freckleton

[Thao Phan]

Please join us for the 'Healthy Futures' seminar series hosted by the
Deakin Science and Society Network (SSN). You can join the conversation on
Twitter by following us at @SSNDeakin and using the hashtags #SSNseminar
#HealthyFutures.

*Register here: *https://ssnseminar-ianfreckelton.eventbrite.com.au
<https://ssnseminar-ianfreckelton.eventbrite.com.au/>

*Title:*

Social Media and the Contemporary Health Practitioner

*Abstract:*

Modern health practitioners, especially doctors, dentists and
chiropractors, utilise social media for many professional and personal
purposes. Patients utilise the Internet to research their health
practitioners and their health conditions and they can use social media to
communicate and rate and commentate upon the treatment they have received.
This utilisation of various forms of media has given rise to attempts at
guidance by health regulatory boards, disciplinary decisions by health
tribunals and decisions by courts in relation to matters such as
defamation. All of these legal responses illustrate the perils of
intemperate expostulation that may reach large numbers of people and leave
on ongoing digital footprint. This paper reflects on the effects that such
matters are having on health practitioner - patient relationships and
expectations.

*About the speaker:*

*Ian Freckelto*n is a Queen’s Counsel in full-time practice as a barrister
throughout Australia. He is also a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nauru and
a Professorial Fellow of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.
He is a member of the Victorian Bar Council and of the Coronial Council of
Victoria and has been a Commissioner at the Victorian Law Reform
Commission, a President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, and a member of many statutory tribunals.
He is a Member of the Victorian Bar Council and the Coronial Council of
Victoria. Professor Freckelton is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of
Law, the Australian Academy of the Social Sciences and of the Australasian
College of Legal Medicine, as well as the Editor of the Journal of Law and
Medicine and the founding Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. He is
the author of more than 40 books and over 600 articles and chapters of
books. In June 2021 Professor Freckelton was appointed an Officer (AO) of
the Order of Australia for “distinguished service to the law, and to the
legal profession, across fields including health, medicine and technology.”

*About the discussant:*

A/Professor *Marie Bismark* is a medical practitioner, health law academic,
and company director. She heads the Law and Public Health Unit at the
University of Melbourne where her research explores the intersection
between health practitioner wellbeing and patient safety. Her research has
been published in leading peer review journals and has influenced
regulatory policy in Australia and internationally. In addition to her
academic role, Dr Bismark works as a psychiatry registrar with North
Western Mental Health, and serves a a board member of The Royal Women’s
Hospital, GMHBA health insurance, and Summerset retirement villages. Dr
Bismark has previously completed a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard
University and is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Grant. She holds
degrees in law, medicine, public health, bioethics, and psychiatry. In
2019, Dr Bismark was named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100
Women of Influence.

Dr *Rebekah McWhirter* is senior lecturer in health law and bioethics in
the School of Medicine at Deakin. Her work uses empirical methods to
address legal and ethical issues in health, and aims to identify how law
can support public health.

*Watch the seminar:*

Seminar will be available to stream on YouTube live. Access using the live
link: https://youtu.be/zjZCz8MQ29c <https://youtu.be/AWsgrn-GBDU>

Date/time: Monday 19 July, 10am - 11:30am (Australian Eastern Daylight
Time, GMT+11)

Q&A with the speaker to follow. To send questions/participate in the chat,
you'll need to sign-in using a YouTube account.
<https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-comment-on-youtube?r=AU&IR=T>

The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on the SSN YouTube
channel after the Livestream.

If you have any questions, please send to ssn-info at deakin.edu.au.