Background: Social networking platforms offer promising educational value, particularly for undergraduate students whose daily lives are deeply embedded in online spaces. Yet in most courses, instructional technologies remain limited to institutional learning management systems (LMSs), which often do not foster informal interaction or community. This study examined whether supplementing LMSs with a Facebook group could enhance academic outcomes and retention in undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) courses. Methods: Over two semesters, two student cohorts (n = 39) were taught by the same instructor using identical materials; one cohort also used a closed Facebook group for course-related engagement. Results: While final course grades were not significantly different between groups (p = 0.186), students in the Facebook cohort scored significantly higher on mid-semester unit exams (p < 0.001 to p = 0.006). Regression analysis revealed a 9.4% higher mean final course grade among Facebook users. Importantly, the pass rate in the Facebook cohort was 94.7% compared to 45.0% in the control group, with dropout rates significantly lower (5.3% vs. 55%, p = 0.001). Conclusions: These findings suggest that incorporating social media into undergraduate science instruction may promote academic success and retention by providing a familiar, collaborative space for active learning and peer support.

Social networking platforms offer promising educational value, particularly for undergraduate students whose daily lives are deeply embedded in online spaces. Yet in most courses, instructional technologies remain limited to institutional learning management systems (LMS), which often do not foster informal interaction or community. This study examined whether supplementing LMS with a Facebook group could enhance academic outcomes and retention in undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) courses. Over two semesters, two student cohorts (N = 39) were taught by the same instructor using identical materials; one cohort also used a closed Facebook group for course-related engagement. Students in the Facebook cohort scored significantly higher on mid-semester unit exams (p < .001 to p = .006). Though final course grades were not significantly different (p = .186), regression analysis revealed a 9.4% higher mean final grade among Facebook users. Importantly, the pass rate in the Facebook cohort was 94.7% compared to 45% in the control group, with dropout rates significantly lower (5.3% vs. 55%, p = .001). These findings suggest that incorporating social media into undergraduate science instruction may promote academic success and retention by providing a familiar, collaborative space for active learning and peer support.

Purpose: To compare systemic vascular disease risk among central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO, BRAO) and central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO, BRVO). Methods: This retrospective cohort study used TriNetX to compare hazard ratios (HR) for ischemic stroke (IS), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), atrial fibrillation (AF), and mortality among 129,468,002 patients with CRAO, CRVO, BRAO, or BRVO diagnosed between January 1, 2015, and July 5, 2026, using propensity score-matched data. Results: Retinal artery occlusions (RAO) were associated with significantly higher risks of all measured outcomes than retinal vein occlusions (RVO), including IS (HR, 1.954), IHD (HR, 1.368), MI (HR, 1.313), AF (HR, 1.530), and mortality (HR, 1.299) (all P<0.0001). BRAO carried higher risk than BRVO across all outcomes. CRAO carried higher risk than BRAO for MI and mortality only, and higher risk than CRVO across all outcomes, most strongly for IS (HR, 2.259). CRVO carried higher mortality risk than BRVO, with no significant difference in other outcomes. Conclusion: Retinal artery occlusions have a substantially greater systemic vascular risk than retinal vein occlusions. This supports urgent systemic evaluation following retinal arterial occlusion, particularly CRAO, to identify patients at highest risk for life-threatening thromboembolic events.