Social norms and webcam use in online meetings.

Face-to-face meetings are often preferred over other forms of communication because meeting in person provides the "richest" way to communicate. Face-to-face meetings are so rich because many ways of communicating (spoken language and nonverbal cues) are available to support mutual understanding. With the progress of digitization and driven by the need to reduce personal contact during the global pandemic, many face-to-face work meetings have been shifted to videoconferences. With webcams turned on, video calls come closest to the richness of face-to-face meetings. However, webcam use often remains voluntary, and some participants choose not to turn their cameras on. In order to find ways to support webcam use-when desired-we analyzed how social norms in groups affect the decision to activate a webcam in a specific meeting. Based on an online survey with N = 333 participants, we found that social norms are related to an individual's decision to turn on the webcam, even when controlling for group size. If the number of participants with activated webcams in a university meeting increased by 25%, it was 5.92 times more likely that an individual decided to turn their webcam on, too. Furthermore, 81.84% of respondents indicated they would turn on their webcam if participants in a meeting were explicitly asked to do so. The results demonstrate a strong relation between social norms and the decision to activate a webcam in online meetings. They build a basis for enhancing webcam use and enable a greater richness of communication in online meetings.

Surgical creation of microphallus for cis-gender female desire for intersex condition.

As the desire for an intersex phenotypic condition increases, surgeons need to become aware of the surgical possibilities there are realistic expectations and a sound mind. A 43-year-old married cis-gender female, on testosterone desired conversion of her enlarged clitoris into a micropenis or metoidioplasty without scrotoplasty or urethral lengthening to increase the size and accentuate her orgasmic response. Following clearance by mental health, a diamond perineoplasty and metoidioplasty using her labia minora was performed. At 1 year her Arizona Sexual Experience Scale increased and she was happy with the operation. Creation of a micropenis, in a cis-gender patient for an intersex state and heightened orgasmic response is surgically feasible.

Patient Satisfaction with Medical Tourism: A Review of 460 International Plastic Surgery Patients in Colombia.

Cosmetic surgery is at the forefront of an exploding medical tourism industry. Patients are able to research options globally through the internet, and increasing numbers are seeking improved service, quality, and value through surgery overseas. Little work has been done to measure the patient experience when traveling for surgery and, to our knowledge, this is the largest study of its kind to examine patient satisfaction with medical tourism. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patient satisfaction surveys completed by 460 consecutive international patients receiving cosmetic surgery at a private plastic surgery practice in Cartagena, Colombia, between February 2016 and April 2018. RESULTS: Overall patient satisfaction was excellent, with 98.2% responding that they would refer us to friends and family. Patient satisfaction ratings across all other items was also very high (range: 97.1%-100%) for information provided, the surgeon, the staff, facilities, and payment. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent patient satisfaction is possible with medical tourism if the patient perceives and receives value through effective results, a pleasant experience, and favorable costs. These successes in plastic surgery medical tourism highlight the potential for significant continued growth in this sector as a whole.

Plastic Surgery Medical Tourism in Colombia: A Review of 658 International Patients and 1,796 Cosmetic Surgery Procedures.

BACKGROUND: Cosmetic surgery is at the forefront of a $60 billion medical tourism industry. Patients are now able to research options globally through the internet, and increasing numbers are seeking improved service, quality, and value through surgery overseas. This study examines 658 consecutive patients receiving 1,796 cosmetic surgery procedures at a private plastic surgery practice in Cartagena, Colombia. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 658 consecutive international patients receiving cosmetic surgery at a private plastic surgery practice in Cartagena, Colombia. RESULTS: Patients traveled to Colombia from 34 different countries spread across 6 continents. Ninety percent of patients came from North America. Patients from the United States represented 38 states and the District of Columbia, and Canadian patients represented 7 provinces. Eighty-three percent of patients were women and 90% were between the age of 20 and 54. The 658 patients in this study had a total of 1,796 cosmetic surgery procedures, involving 5,456 surgical sites. Seventy-two percent of patients received combination procedures with an average of 2.7 procedures per patient. Ninety-nine percent of cases were performed under general anesthesia and 100% were performed in an accredited hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Our data highlight trends defining plastic surgery medical tourism. Our data indicate that traveling for surgery is widely appealing, with women and men from diverse backgrounds traveling to Colombia from all over the world for a variety of procedures.

Influence of Severity on Aesthetic Outcomes of Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair in 1,823 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Although efforts to improve access to care for patients with cleft lip in the developing world have grown tremendously, there is a dearth of data regarding aesthetic outcomes after cleft lip repairs in this setting. Defining severity-outcome relationships has the potential to improve efficiency of care delivery in resource-limited settings, and to improve overall results. In this study, we investigate the relationship between initial cleft lip severity and early aesthetic outcomes following surgical repair of primary unilateral cleft lip. METHODS: Using previously validated tools to assess unilateral cleft lip severity and aesthetic outcome after repair, we evaluated 1,823 consecutive patients who underwent primary unilateral cleft lip/nose (UCL/N) repair. Three separate evaluators scored each case for a total of 5,469 total independent evaluations. RESULTS: Our results show that with increasing severity of UCL/N deformity, there is a corresponding decrease in early aesthetic outcome scores. Using our results, we established normative early aesthetic outcomes following repair for each severity grade of UCL/N deformity. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this study has achieved a standardized, timely, and cost-effective evaluation of 1,823 surgical cases of primary UCL/N repair. This data set provides a normal distribution of aesthetic results according to initial cleft severity and defines a standard of "expected" aesthetic results after primary UCL/N repair. Our results also show a clear correlation between initial severity and immediate aesthetic result after surgery, though we also show that excellent results are possible regardless of initial cleft severity.