The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network: Early Experience and Lessons Learned.

BACKGROUND: The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network (TSSMN) is a social media collaborative formed in 2015 by The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery to bring social media attention to key publications from both journals and to highlight major accomplishments in the specialty. Our aim is to describe TSSMN's preliminary experience and lessons learned. METHODS: Twitter analytics was used to obtain information regarding the @TSSMN Twitter handle and #TSSMN hashtag. TweetChat and general hashtag #TSSMN analytics were measured using Symplur (Symplur LLC, Los Angeles, CA). A TSSMN Tweeter App was created, and its use and downloads were analyzed. RESULTS: Hashtag #TSSMN has a total of 17,181 tweets, 2,100 users, and 32,226,280 impressions, with peaks in tweeting activity corresponding to TweetChats. Thirteen 1-hour TweetChats drew a total of 489 participants, 5195 total tweets, and 17,297,708 total impressions. The top demographic category of TweetChat participants included Doctors (47%), Advocates/Supports (11%), and Unknown (10%), with 3% characterized as patients. The TSSMN Tweeter iTunes App (Apple, Cupertino, CA) was downloaded 3319 times with global representation. A total of 859 articles were viewed through the App, with 450 articles from The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and 409 from The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that TSSMN further enhances the ability for the journals to connect with their readership and the cardiothoracic community. Ongoing studies to correlate social media attention with article reads, article-level metrics, citations, and journal impact factor are eagerly awaited.

The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network: Early experience and lessons learned.

BACKGROUND: The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network (TSSMN) is a social media collaborative formed in 2015 by The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery to bring social media attention to key publications from both journals and to highlight major accomplishments in the specialty. Our aim is to describe TSSMN's preliminary experience and lessons learned. METHODS: Twitter analytics was used to obtain information regarding the @TSSMN Twitter handle and #TSSMN hashtag. TweetChat and general hashtag #TSSMN analytics were measured using Symplur (Symplur LLC, Los Angeles, Calif). A TSSMN Tweeter App was created, and its use and downloads were analyzed. RESULTS: Hashtag #TSSMN has a total of 17,181 tweets, 2100 users, and 32,226,280 impressions, with peaks in tweeting activity corresponding to TweetChats. Thirteen 1-hour TweetChats drew a total of 489 participants, 5195 total tweets, and 17,297,708 total impressions. The top demographic category of TweetChat participants included Doctors (47%), Advocates/Supports (11%), and Unknown (10%), with 3% characterized as patients. The TSSMN Tweeter iTunes App (Apple, Cupertino, Calif) was downloaded 3319 times with global representation. A total of 859 articles were viewed through the App, with 450 articles from The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and 409 from The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that TSSMN further enhances the ability for the journals to connect with their readership and the cardiothoracic community. Ongoing studies to correlate social media attention with article reads, article-level metrics, citations, and journal impact factor are eagerly awaited.

Social media as a tool to rewrite the narrative for women in cardiothoracic surgery.

To deliver the best possible care, the global surgical workforce should mirror the diverse society it is entrusted to serve. Cardiothoracic surgery remains amongst the most under-represented of the surgical specialties for women. Herein, we describe the role of social media in the cardiothoracic surgery community and its potential to rewrite the narrative for women in cardiothoracic surgery.

Social Media as a Means of Networking and Mentorship: Role for Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

As women represent <5% of practicing cardiothoracic (CT) surgeons, networking and mentorship is pivotal to support the growth of women in this field. With widespread use of social media in the healthcare domain, its role in enhancing mentorship for CT surgeons who lack access to same-sex mentors remains unknown. Methods: A 35-item survey investigating CT trainee and surgeon social media use was designed using online survey software and distributed via social media and email. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. One hundred fifty-six respondents who completed the survey reported careers in surgery, among whom 27 (17.3%) were in CT surgery. Despite expressing value for the role of same-sex mentorship in their careers more than those in other surgical specialties (P = 0.044), respondents in CT surgery were more likely to lack exposure to same-sex mentors at their own institution (P = 0.028). Compared to other surgical specialties, CT surgery respondents more frequently engaged with mentors of the same sex by viewing social media sites (P = 0.041) to discuss topics regarding surviving a career in the field (P = 0.049) and promotion of scholarship opportunities (P < 0.001). CT surgery respondents reported a trend towards a greater likelihood of using social media to build a network of same-sex mentorship compared to other surgical specialties (P = 0.077). Conclusions: Social media serves as a valuable tool to enhance the networking and mentorship of surgeons, particularly for women in CT surgery who may lack exposure to same-sex mentors at their own institution. Longitudinal studies surrounding the effectiveness of mentorship by social media are warranted.

The academic tweet: Twitter as a tool to advance academic surgery.

Social media, Twitter in particular, has emerged as an essential tool for surgeons. In the realm of academic surgery, it enables surgeons to advance the core values of academic surgery, as outlined by the Association for Academic Surgery: inclusion, leadership, innovation, scholarship, and mentorship. This article details the ways in which surgeons are using Twitter to embody these values and how the Twitter account for the Association of Academic Surgeons accomplishes its goal of inspiring and developing young academic surgeons.

Social media in the mentorship and networking of physicians: Important role for women in surgical specialties.

BACKGROUND: Social media may be a useful supplement to physician and trainee interactions; however, its role in enhancing mentorship has not been described. METHODS: A 35-item survey investigating trainee and physician social media use was distributed. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 282 respondents completed the survey, among whom 136 (48.2%) reported careers in surgical specialties. Women in surgical specialties were more likely to describe the specialty as being dominated by the opposite sex (p < 0.001) and to be mentored by the opposite sex though wish to be mentored by individuals of the same sex (p < 0.001). Respondents in surgical specialties were also more likely to report using social media to build a network of same-sex mentorship (p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: Social media serves as a valuable tool to enhance the networking and mentorship of surgeons, particularly for women in surgical specialties who may lack exposure to same-sex mentors at their own institution.

Patch Repair of Anomalous Origin of Left Anterior Descending Artery From the Right Coronary Artery.

Coronary artery anomalies occur in an estimated 1.3% of the population. We present the case of a 52-year-old man who had a less common anomaly of a left anterior descending artery arising from the right coronary ostium, causing ischemia and chest pain, demonstrated by perfusion scan. The usual options for management of coronary anomalies were not suitable for this anatomy, and therefore we present a case of patch augmentation of the arteries.

Surgical resection of a giant cardiac fibroma.

A 42-year-old woman presented to a regional hospital emergency room with palpitations and was found to be in ventricular tachycardia. Chest radiography demonstrated a massively enlarged cardiac silhouette. Echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass within the left ventricular free wall, consistent with a cardiac fibroma. The patient proceeded to have surgical resection of the mass. Left ventricular function was preserved postoperatively.

Successful Heart Transplant after Ten Hours Out-of-body Time using the TransMedics Organ Care System.

OBJECTIVE: We report the successful transplantation of a heart following an out-of-body time of 611 minutes into a recipient with dilated cardiomyopathy and left ventricular assist device implant. PATIENTS: Our patient was urgently waiting for a cardiac transplant whilst receiving LVAD support. Recurrent VF and repeated AICD shocks necessitated this action. RESULTS: Although requiring ECMO and inotropic support in the first 17 hours post-transplant, the patient was discharged from hospital on day 15 post-transplant with normal cardiac function. CONCLUSION: We report some of the salient points of the process and discuss the utility of this technology to an Australian transplant unit.