6
IN THE NEWS
GENERAL SURGERY NEWS / APRIL 2022
New Surgeon-Only App Offers Networking, Educational Opportunities social space, respecting the beauty that’s created when you collaborate with peoooking for a secure way to network ple online,” Dr. Soliman said. The platform has alleviated privacy with fellow surgeons online? Need to find a high-quality video of a robotic issues while at the same time preventWhipple? Want to attend an education- ing trolls from hiding behind an anonal webinar with live discussion? Curious ymous handle, by verifying that every what surgeons in various subspecialties person who joins the platform is a surare working on? There’s an app for that. geon based on their national practitioner Agnostic to specialty and modali- identifier (NPI) number. Although this ty, SurgeOn (surgeonapp.com) is a free, limits SurgeOn to U.S. surgeons for now, surgeon-only networking application Dr. Soliman’s team plans to launch an international platform that will include built to solve the problems associated non-NPI verification, opening up with other online social networks. ks. non the platform to residents and stu“Right now, most surgeons ns dents who do not yet have NPIs. either don’t have a home to con-de “[This way,] you know the nect virtually or they use pub-qualifications of every person lic social media sites. Those aree qu you’re communicating with in great in their own merit, butt y the application,” Dr. Soliman they have tremendous limitasaid. tions, such as privacy conTo protect against the risk cerns, security concerns, and for surgeon data being brodiscoverability issues that have led to litigation,” said Mark Soliman, MD kered and sold—the way other social media sites use Mark Soliman, MD, a colon and rectal surgeon with AdventHealth member data—SurgeOn simply doesn’t Medical Group Colorectal Surgery, in collect it. “We refuse to collect certain aspects of Altamonte Springs, Fla. “We’ve looked at each of these prob- data. There’s nothing that we could sell lems from a 30,000-foot view and tried to brokers or lenders, and nothing that to solve them in a way that’s congruent could be stolen,” he said. As a platform created by surgeons with how we want to be treated in the By MONICA J. SMITH
L
The SurgeOn app offers an array of educational and networking opportunities for surgeons, including videos of procedures, webinars with live discussion and the ability to discuss challenging cases.
Resident Creates Book Series for Children Having Surgery An Easy-to-Understand Guide for Kids and Their Parents “There was one book, about appendicitis, with real-life photos that dic I found far from friendly. So, I aria Baimas-George, MD, MPH, H, thought, it may be fun to create my thought she’d become an author some-th own books and that’s how this side day. She had been writing since she was old d o hustle began.” enough to hold a pencil. In college, her path h To date, her series titled “The turned to medicine, but she has found a way to Strength of My Scars: Pediatric combine her two passions: writing books for Surgical Chronicles,” includes children that explain surgical and medical 21 books intended to help chilsituations in a language they, and their pardren understand basic anatomy, ents, can understand. know what to expect of proceDuring her first year of residency, Dr. Maria BaimasGeorge, MD, MPH dures and recovery, and learn Baimas-George noticed that communiwhat type of healthcare workcations between doctors and patients and their parents in the pediatric surgery and pediatric ers they might encounter. The books are also illustrated by the author with wateroncology services were often subpar. “These are high-stress, high-anxiety moments. Even color paintings that depict a variety of when people have a background in healthcare, it can be patients and providers. difficult for them to understand what’s going on,” said Dr. Baimas-George, a fourth-year surgical resident at Caroli- They’re Not Just Charming; They Work nas Medical Center, Atrium Health, in Charlotte, N.C. She also believed there was a lack of child-specifWith the first couple of books under her ic resources. “We often explain our treatment plans to arm, Dr. Baimas-George started querying caregivers and kids in the same waywhich is far from publishers. Although feedback was posiideal—creating confusion, anxiety and misunderstand- tive, none believed that titles like “Pyloric ing,” Dr. Baimas-George said. Stenosis: That Time My Stomach Flexed” She did some research, but was unable to find read- would find a place in their market. ing materials specifically geared toward children facing “So, I went to my chairman of surgery, operations or dealing with other medical issues. Dr. Brent Matthews, who suggested I apply By MONICA J. SMITH
M
Books from the series “The Strength of My Scars,” by Maria Baimas-George, MD.
for a research grant to study whether these books have a real benefit,” Dr. Baimas-George said. This request was successful. Earning a grant from the Department of Surgery’s academic enrichment fund, Dr. Baimas-George and her colleagues randomized the caregivers of 80 children with a diagnosis of uncomplicated appendicitis, ruptured appendicitis, pyloric stenosis, need for gastrostomy tube or umbilical hernia to receive her eeducational book or not receive one. The “after” surveys indicated significant improvements in 14 of 17 n questions that addressed compreq hension, satisfaction and appreh hension in the experimental group h compared with the control group. The study will be published in an issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgery, and Dr. BaimasGeorge presented it at the American Pediatric Surgical Association conference last May.
