| “Live
surgery is not new to India. A surgery being performed is relayed to the target
audience, which comprises of medical students, general practitioners, media,”
informs Dr. Ameet Pispate, orthopaedic surgeon who is credited to be the First
Asian to perform the hip resurfacing technique. “The purpose is to create
an awareness of new surgery techniques. It goes against medical rules to relay
it to lay people.” He does not include the recorded version of the surgery,
which is given to the relatives of the patient. These are now considered routine
with the Shroff Eye Hospital. “Relatives watch the surgery taking place on
the monitor providing transparency,” Says Dr. Anand Shroff, who conducted
live surgery with the latest LASIK laser vision correction, with the media present
in large groups.
Medics, at large, deny that there is any self-promotion
involved in having live surgeries. “It is not self-promotion, but rather
a promotion of new techniques to make people aware of it,” says Dr Sanjay
Borude, anti-obesity surgeon. “One can even train even train students from
other countries through live transmission of the surgery.” There, however,
is a thin line between educating about a technique and promoting. “The medical
world does not allow for self-promotion, at least not in allopathy,” informs
Dr. Pispate who’s set to conduct a live surgery of hip resurfacing this weekend
at a symposium in the city. It’ll be attended by 250 orthopaedic surgeons.
It
would be interesting for the Indian medical community to note that surgeries are
now being tapped as a ‘reality show’ potential abroad. Cosmetic Surgery
Live on channel Five in UK has a clinic recording cosmetic surgeries live for
two weeks, and the patients include some well-known local celebrities. The programme
created a furore with its announcement and was slammed by many, including television
viewers and professional of the medic world as something “private that should
not be shown on national network and will probably start off an onslaught of copy
cats.”
Dr. Shroff is aware of a similar thing happening in America
and sees nothing wrong in it. “People will be less intimidated and more informed
about surgeries,” he says. Dr. Pispate demurs, “A hip resurfacing or
an angioplasty will require to show a part of body that I don’t think any
of our patients would like to show. It’s not fair. Honestly, I don’t
see surgery turning out to be a part of the reality series in India.”
With
Indians quick on the uptake at the copying the West, how long will it be before
they seek out the ‘lovable heart’ for dissection thrills? |
