Docs in Detroit Tweet the Entire Cancer Surgery!
The social media sites have enabled interaction in a lot of ways that were earlier not possible. TV for example was a one-way channel. They give. We receive. With phone some of it changed – one could call into, say Larry King Live and talk live and ask questions. But the interaction was limited yet. Then Rick Sanchez used Twitter, Facebook and MySpace in his afternoon program to interact and discuss/debate/chat on various issues (from hurricanes to elections).. and a new way of disseminating news was born.
Now, I read of another cool use of Twitter – where a couple of doctors Tweeted their entire surgery! Dr. James Peabody , and Dr. Raj Laungani, of Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit live tweeted the entire cancer surgery. They had decided to do it and gotten the necessary clearances to obviate the legal issues. (Feed for the Surgery Tweets). Btw, they used tweetdeck on their laptop to tweet the whole time.
One would ask – How would Tweeting the surgery have helped? Well how about these benefits.. apart from the obvious advertising and PR that such news provides..for free!
In terms of education though, it doesn’t have to be limited to medical training. There is also a patient education component to this. While a lay person wouldn’t necessarily understand all medical jargon, it would provide a roadmap of the surgery which I would view as helpful if I or a loved one were having the procedure. It would also give a non-medical person 140-character access to an expert and a view into the operating room.
Here is a very useful and interesting powerpoint on uses of twitter in health and medicine.
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