ArticlePDF Available

Assessment of public access YouTube™ content for pediatric minimal access surgery education

Authors:
Maja Raicevic
Maja Raicevic
Maja Raicevic
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Amulya K Saxena at Imperial College London
Amulya K Saxena
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

YouTube™ is a video-sharing open-access online platform with more than 1 billion users. The number of users and uploaded videos with medical content is increasing every day. Though e-learning has advantages and use of social media has found place in modern education, this short communication is about YouTube™, that is one of leading social media, having an impact on pediatric surgery trainees in minimal access surgery.
Content uploaded by Amulya K Saxena
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Amulya K Saxena on May 03, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
Vol.:(0123456789)
1 3
Journal of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgery (2019) 1:41–43
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42804-019-00010-3
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Assessment ofpublic access YouTube™ content forpediatric minimal
access surgery education
MajaRaicevic1,2· AmulyaK.Saxena2
Received: 26 March 2019 / Revised: 12 April 2019 / Accepted: 15 April 2019 / Published online: 26 April 2019
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2019
Abstract
YouTube™ is a video-sharing open-access online platform with more than 1billion users. The number of users and uploaded
videos with medical content is increasing every day. Though e-learning has advantages and use of social media has found
place in modern education, this short communication is about YouTube™, that is one of leading social media, having an
impact on pediatric surgery trainees in minimal access surgery.
Keywords Pediatric surgery· YouTube· Education· Videos· Minimal access surgery
Introduction
Recently, Steel etal. [1] stated that in contemporary times,
social media is a necessary component of surgical practice
and that there is no doubt whether social media should be
used or not; but the question is how should it be used.
YouTube™ (www.youtu be.com) has over a billion users,
with local versions launched in more than 88 countries and
YouTube™ navigation is possible in 76 different languages
which covers 95% of the Internet population of today.
Another interesting fact is that more than half of YouTube™
views come from mobile devices [2] and that means that
users only a screen touch away from the content they are
interested in. Numerous videos with medical content have
been uploaded on YouTube™ since it has been launched and
that number is increasing rapidly every day. These facts state
that YouTube™ as a video-sharing website has a tremendous
influence in everyday life but how does it influence medical
education in particular specialties especially minimal access
surgery?
Sterling [3] reported that YouTube™ was used mostly
to teach technical skills and promote self-efficacy. Rapp
etal. conducted a survey to evaluate video usage as surgi-
cal preparation methods; in this survey, 90% of all survey
respondents reported that they use videos to prepare for
surgical cases (95% first time learners and 83% Faculty).
YouTube™ was the most commonly used source and 85%
of the respondents used it in their survey. Beside this, it was
reported that there was a significant difference in frequency
of using videos for surgical preparation, as learners use it
more often than faculty; 70% of learners use it 1–2 times
per month or once a week [4]. The results of this survey
emphasize the influence of YouTube™ as an educational
tool for medical students and surgical trainees in particular.
Therefore, what is important to know?
The most important question is that, which videos should
we watch? YouTube™ is an open-access online platform
where everybody can share their videos free of charge and
due to this fact, there are great variations in videos qual-
ity. There are different mostly private sources that upload
medical videos, with a minority of these being from reliable
institutional sources and the majority from non-institutional
individuals. Frongia etal. [5] in their analysis, YouTube™
as a potential training resource for laparoscopic fundoplica-
tion, reported that institutional videos have higher scores for
surgical quality and total video quality compared to other
sources. He also reported that video quality is not related
to the ratio of likes/dislikes and video quality should be fil-
tered based on upload source and duration [5]. Lee etal.
[6] came to a similar conclusion in their research as only
* Maja Raicevic
maja.raicevic9@gmail.com
1 Department ofPediatric Surgery, Clinic forPediatric
Surgery andOrthopedics, Clinical Center Nis, Bulevar
Zorana Djindjica 48, 18000Nis, Serbia
2 Department ofPediatric Surgery, Chelsea Children’s
Hospital, Chelsea andWestminster NHS Fdn Trust, Imperial
College London, London, UK
42 M.Raicevic, A.K.Saxena
1 3
15% of laparoscopic cholecystectomy videos were scored
to have good quality, 54.8% were moderate and 30.1% were
poor. Videos uploaded by tertiary centers showed the highest
educational value and were scored significantly higher than
others and also there was no correlation between the video
quality and the number of likes or views per day [6].
In the recent years, quality of videos has been increased
as more and more videos today are now in High Definition
(HD) resolution when compared to previously uploaded non-
HD videos. One of the biggest advantages of YouTube™
for pediatric surgery trainees is that various surgical solu-
tions for same conditions are found on YouTube™. Differ-
ent surgical techniques are presented and it is also possible
to see innovations and usage of new medical equipment
not available in every Children’s hospital, especially not in
low-income economy countries. The other advantage is that
same video could be watched repeatedly if necessary. This
is very convenient for laparoscopic procedures especially, as
the video shows the surgeon’s perspective during the proce-
dure, compared to open surgery videos where the recorded
view could be different from surgeon’s field of vision [5].
Most of the videos with surgical techniques are scarce
with additional information regarding the video content. For
surgical education, better choice are videos with an audio
narration, explaining exactly the procedure presented in the
video, versus those which have only a title or a short expla-
nation written below.
The other important thing about the video content is that
not only that there are videos representing various surgi-
cal techniques, nonetheless, there is also a huge number of
uploaded presentations about different pediatric surgery
conditions. Except for the PowerPoint® presentations and
animations on certain topic, video presentations from sci-
entific meetings can also be found. Such presentations could
help trainees to be updated with current strategies and trends
in pediatric surgery.
As an interactive social media, YouTube™ offers an
option not only to watch videos but also to communicate
with the institution/person who has uploaded a video of
interest. In this way, questions about the condition or sur-
gical technique could be posted and answers obtained and
forum discussed, off course bearing in mind the variation in
competency levels of the forum giving advice.
Although YouTube™ has been used in medical educa-
tion and patient education, however, misinformation has
also been shared [7]. So are there pitfalls in using social
media for education and the question that arises here is
that can they be avoided? Madathil etal. [8] in a system-
atic review pointed out that YouTube™ contains mislead-
ing information which contradicts the reference standards,
and that the retrieval of relevant videos is particularly
dependent on the term used for search. He also reported
that trustworthy and high-quality information came from
videos uploaded by government organizations and profes-
sional associations [8]. Walsh also reported that although
social media have their place in surgical practice there are
downsides as well. Regarding educational impact, he high-
lighted that availability of e-learning and its advantage,
but in the wrong context or at the wrong time can become
a disadvantage as incorrect information may be accepted
by learners who might put patients at risk of harm due to
misconceived learning. Traditional publishing comparing
to social media has less incorrect information as content
must pass through editing, peer review, more editing,
copyediting, and proofreading before publication [9]. One
thing that should user always bare in mind is that the con-
tent on YouTube™ is non-peer reviewed and unmoderated
which has its own risks. Based on that, all the techniques
learned through such resources should be double checked
with the mentor available.
Taking all the above factors into account, it can be con-
cluded that YouTube™ certainly has a role in pediatric
surgery education although the selection of videos to be
watched should be made carefully. Institutional videos on
YouTube™ should be preferred for educational purpose
as they are of better quality and contain trustworthy infor-
mation. Minimal access surgery videos in particular can
be very beneficial to pediatric surgery trainees; however,
trainees should be reminded that YouTube™ videos are
only just a one component of learning to supplement train-
ing and should not used to replace the traditional way of
learning.
Funding None.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict
of interest.
References
1. Steel SR, Arshad S, Bush R, Dasani S, Cologne K, Bleier JI
etal (2015) Social media is a necessary component of surgery
practice. Surgery 158:857–862
2. [Cited 2017 19 June] Available from : https ://www.youtu
be.com/yt/press /en-GB/stati stics .html. Accessed 19 June 2017
3. Sterling M, Leung P, Wright D, Bishop TF (2017) The use
of social media in graduate medical education: a systematic
review. Acad Med 92:1043–1056
4. Rapp AK, Healy MG, Charlton ME, Keith JN, Rosenbaum
ME, Kapadia MR (2016) YouTube is the most frequently used
educational video source for surgical preparation. J Surg Educ
73:1072–1076
5. Frongia G, Mehrabi A, Fonouni H, Rennert H, Golriz M,
Günther P (2016) YouTube as a potential training resource for
laparoscopic fundoplication. J Surg Educ 73:1066–1071
43Assessment ofpublic access YouTube™ content forpediatric minimal access surgery education
1 3
6. Lee JS, Seo HS, Hong TH (2015) YouTube as a training method
for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Ann Surg Treat Res 89:92–97
7. Sampson M, Cumber J, Li C, Pound CM, Fuller A, Harrison D.
A systematic review of methods for studying consumer health
YouTube videos, with implications for systematic reviews. Peer
J 1:e147; doi: 10.7717/peerj.147
8. Madathil KC, Rivera-Rodriguez AJ, Greenstein JS, Gramopad-
hye AK (2015) Healthcare information on YouTube: a systematic
review. Health Inform J 21:173–194
9. Walsh K (2015) Social media and surgery: an alternative view.
Surgery 159:978
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
YouTube is the Most Frequently Used Educational Video Source for Surgical Preparation
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2016
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate surgical preparation methods of medical students, residents, and faculty with special attention to video usage. Design: Following Institutional Review Board approval, anonymous surveys were distributed to participants. Information collected included demographics and surgical preparation methods, focusing on video usage. Participants were questioned regarding frequency and helpfulness of videos, video sources used, and preferred methods between videos, reading, and peer consultation. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS. Setting: Surveys were distributed to participants in the Department of Surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, a tertiary care center in Iowa City, Iowa. Participants: Survey participants included fourth-year medical students pursuing general surgery, general surgery residents, and faculty surgeons in the Department of Surgery. A total of 86 surveys were distributed, and 78 surveys were completed. This included 42 learners (33 residents, 9 fourth-year medical students) and 36 faculty. Results: The overall response rate was 91%; 90% of respondents reported using videos for surgical preparation (learners = 95%, faculty = 83%, p = NS). Regarding surgical preparation methods overall, most learners and faculty selected reading (90% versus 78%, p = NS), and fewer respondents reported preferring videos (64% versus 44%, p = NS). Faculty more often use peer consultation (31% versus 50%, p < 0.02). Among respondents who use videos (N = 70), the most used source was YouTube (86%). Learners and faculty use different video sources. Learners use YouTube and Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) Portal more than faculty (YouTube: 95% versus 73%, p < 0.02; SCORE: 25% versus 7%, p < 0.05). Faculty more often use society web pages and commercial videos (society: 67% versus 38%, p < 0.03; commercial: 27% versus 5%, p < 0.02). Conclusions: Most respondents reported using videos to prepare for surgery. YouTube was the preferred source. Posting surgical videos to YouTube may allow for maximal access to learners who are preparing for surgical cases.
View
YouTube as a potential training method for laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2015
The purpose of this study was to analyze the educational quality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) videos accessible on YouTube, one of the most important sources of internet-based medical information. The keyword 'laparoscopic cholecystectomy' was used to search on YouTube and the first 100 videos were analyzed. Among them, 27 videos were excluded and 73 videos were included in the study. An arbitrary score system for video quality, devised from existing LC guidelines, were used to evaluate the quality of the videos. Video demographics were analyzed by the quality and source of the video. Correlation analysis was performed. When analyzed by video quality, 11 (15.1%) were evaluated as 'good', 40 (54.8%) were 'moderate', and 22 (30.1%) were 'poor', and there were no differences in length, views per day, or number of likes, dislikes, and comments. When analyzed by source, 27 (37.0%) were uploaded by primary centers, 20 (27.4%) by secondary centers, 15 (20.5%) by tertiary centers, 5 (6.8%) by academic institutions, and 6 (8.2%) by commercial institutions. The mean score of the tertiary center group (6.0 ± 2.0) was significantly higher than the secondary center group (3.9 ± 1.4, P = 0.001). The video score had no correlation with views per day or number of likes. Many LC videos are accessible on YouTube with varying quality. Videos uploaded by tertiary centers showed the highest educational value. This discrepancy in video quality was not recognized by viewers. More videos with higher quality need to be uploaded, and an active filtering process is necessary.
View
Healthcare information on YouTube: A systematic review
Article
Full-text available
This article reviews the peer-reviewed literature addressing the healthcare information available on YouTube. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined, and the online databases PubMed and Web of Knowledge were searched using the search phrases: (1) YouTube* AND Health* and (2) YouTube* AND Healthcare*. In all, 18 articles were reviewed, with the results suggesting that (1) YouTube is increasingly being used as a platform for disseminating health information; (2) content and frame analysis were the primary techniques employed by researchers to analyze the characteristics of this information; (3) YouTube contains misleading information, primarily anecdotal, that contradicts the reference standards and the probability of a lay user finding such content is relatively high; (4) the retrieval of relevant videos is dependent on the search term used; and (5) videos from government organizations and professional associations contained trustworthy and high-quality information. YouTube is used as a medium for promoting unscientific therapies and drugs that are yet to be approved by the appropriate agencies and has the potential to change the beliefs of patients concerning controversial topics such as vaccinations. This review recognizes the need to design interventions to enable consumers to critically assimilate the information posted on YouTube with more authoritative information sources to make effective healthcare decisions.
View
A systematic review of methods for studying consumer health YouTube videos, with implications for systematic reviews
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2013
Background. YouTube is an increasingly important medium for consumer health information – with content provided by healthcare professionals, government and non-government organizations, industry, and consumers themselves. It is a rapidly developing area of study for healthcare researchers. We examine the methods used in reviews of YouTube consumer health videos to identify trends and best practices. Methods and Materials. Published reviews of consumer-oriented health-related YouTube videos were identified through PubMed. Data extracted from these studies included type of journal, topic, characteristics of the search, methods of review including number of reviewers and method to achieve consensus between reviewers, inclusion and exclusion criteria, characteristics of the videos reported, ethical oversight, and follow-up. Results. Thirty-three studies were identified. Most were recent and published in specialty journals. Typically, these included more than 100 videos, and were examined by multiple reviewers. Most studies described characteristics of the videos, number of views, and sometime characteristics of the viewers. Accuracy of portrayal of the health issue under consideration was a common focus. Conclusion. Optimal transparency and reproducibility of studies of YouTube health-related videos can be achieved by following guidance designed for systematic review reporting, with attention to several elements specific to the video medium. Particularly when seeking to replicate consumer viewing behavior, investigators should consider the method used to select search terms, and use a snowballing rather than a sequential screening approach. Discontinuation protocols for online screening of relevance ranked search results is an area identified for further development.
View
The Use of Social Media in Graduate Medical Education: A Systematic Review
Article
  • Feb 2017
Purpose: Despite the growing presence of social media in graduate medical education (GME), few studies have attempted to characterize their effect on residents and their training. The authors conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature to understand the effect of social media on resident (1) education, (2) recruitment, and (3) professionalism. Method: The authors identified English-language peer-reviewed articles published through November 2015 using Medline, Embase, Cochrane, PubMed, Scopus, and ERIC. They extracted and synthesized data from articles that met inclusion criteria. They assessed study quality for quantitative and qualitative studies through, respectively, the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument and the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies. Results: Twenty-nine studies met inclusion criteria. Thirteen (44.8%) pertained to residency education. Twitter, podcasts, and blogs were frequently used to engage learners and enhance education. YouTube and wikis were more commonly used to teach technical skills and promote self-efficacy. Six studies (20.7%) pertained to the recruitment process; these suggest that GME programs are transitioning information to social media to attract applicants. Ten studies (34.5%) pertained to resident professionalism. Most were exploratory, highlighting patient and resident privacy, particularly with respect to Facebook. Four of these studies surveyed residents about their social network behavior with respect to their patients, while the rest explored how program directors use it to monitor residents' unprofessional online behavior. Conclusions: The effect of social media platforms on residency education, recruitment, and professionalism is mixed, and the quality of existing studies is modest at best.
View
YouTube as a Potential Training Resource for Laparoscopic Fundoplication
Article
  • Jun 2016
Objective: To analyze the surgical proficiency and educational quality of YouTube videos demonstrating laparoscopic fundoplication (LF). Design: In this cross-sectional study, a search was performed on YouTube for videos demonstrating the LF procedure. The surgical and educational proficiency was evaluated using the objective component rating scale, the educational quality rating score, and total video quality score. Statistical significance was determined by analysis of variance, receiver operating characteristic curve, and odds ratio analysis. Results: A total of 71 videos were included in the study; 28 (39.4%) videos were evaluated as good, 23 (32.4%) were moderate, and 20 (28.2%) were poor. Good-rated videos were significantly longer (good, 22.0 ± 5.2min; moderate, 7.8 ± 0.9min; poor, 8.5 ± 1.0min; p = 0.007) and video duration was predictive of good quality (AUC, 0.672 ± 0.067; 95% CI: 0.541-0.802; p = 0.015). For good quality, the cut-off video duration was 7:42 minute. This cut-off value had a sensitivity of 67.9%, a specificity of 60.5%, and an odds ratio of 3.23 (95% CI: 1.19-8.79; p = 0.022) in predicting good quality. Videos uploaded from industrial sources and with a higher views/days online ratio had a higher objective component rating scale and total video quality score. In contrast, the likes/dislikes ratio was not predictive of video quality. Conclusions: Many videos showing the LF procedure have been uploaded to YouTube with varying degrees of quality. A process for filtering LF videos with high surgical and educational quality is feasible by evaluating the video duration, uploading source, and the views/days online ratio. However, alternative videos platforms aimed at professionals should also be considered for educational purposes.
View
View
Social media is a necessary component of surgery practice
Article
  • Jul 2015
Social media is a necessary component of the practice of surgery. Each surgeon must embrace the power and potential of social media and serve as a guide or content expert for patients and other health care providers to facilitate and share responsible use of the various media available. Social media facilitates rapid communication of information not only across providers but also between patients and providers. The power of social media has the potential to improve consultation and collaboration, facilitate patient education, and expand research efforts; moreover, by harnessing its potential, the appropriate use of many of the avenues of social media also can be used to disseminate campaigns to increase disease awareness and communicate new research findings and best-practice guidelines. Because its reach is so broad within as well as outside the censorship of medical experts, professional oversight and engagement is required to maximize responsible use. Staying consistent with our history of surgery, rich in innovation and technologic advancement, surgeons must get to the front of this evolving field and direct the path of social media as it applies to the practice of surgery rather than take a passive role. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
View