A small survey American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) members found that most of them had used online streaming media (i.e. YouTube) at least once to learn a new technique and most had used those techniques in practice, according to an article published online by JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.
Anita Sethna, M.D., of the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and coauthors surveyed AAFPRS members and received 202 responses, about 8 percent of the AAFPRS membership.
The most popular ways to stay current with technical and nontechnical findings included meetings, journals and discussions with colleagues. However, 64.1 percent of respondents said they had used online media at least once to learn a new technique, especially for rhinoplasty and injectable procedures, and 83.1 percent had used those techniques in their practice. Less experienced surgeons were more likely to have used online streaming media than more experienced surgeons.
"The enthusiasm is not unbridled, however. The Internet's ease of access has raised concerns regarding the quality of these sources," the authors note.