In the past few years, social media has become a very powerful tool for communicating the sciences to the public. During the COVID-19 lockdown, its value as a modality to implement and improve medical education among medical students and residents-in-training has grown.

I have been using my professional accounts on Instagram and Facebook to educate the public at large – as well as our students – on eye care and diseases. I noticed a surge in user engagement, especially coming from our students. This has strengthened my professional bond with them and has presented a number of innovative ideas to facilitate and enhance their learning experience, by creating a “virtual educational community.”

In addition to social media, we established a virtual platform that included different academic activities such as lectures, grand rounds, journal clubs and advisory meetings for our medical students and residents. So far, this has proved successful.

I believe that the use of social media and e-learning will hold an increasingly valuable role as a teaching and learning tool in medical education, especially considering how it contributes to active learning and inspires students to develop their knowledge.