The next time you sign consent for a surgical procedure you might want to take a close look at the form to see if it also asks for your ok to Tweet about the procedure from the operating room.
Dr. Craig Rogers has paved the way for surgeons to create a virtual learning community, demonstrating a creative use of the social media tool Twitter. The reason he gave for wanting to do this was to share with others that a kidney tumor could be removed without removing the whole kidney.
Things didn't go exactly as planned, demonstrating that it takes preparation, confidence and a certain risk taking to do this. And while it all worked out just fine in the end, unlike House or E.R., there are no second takes and editing.
My daughter, who is a med student, will think this is terrific. She loves surgery but knows she's got to be useful or stay out of the way. This would enable her to follow not only what's being said in the OR, but to find out what other tweeters thought as the procedure was progressing.
You may be wondering how Dr. Rogers got the idea in the first place From a colleague, who tweeted as a patient during his own varicose vein surgery. He wanted to feel like his family and friends were there with him during surgery. Sounds good, but maybe too CrackBerry-ish for me.
Think of the territory this opens up for the medical malpractice bar...
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