Medical Tourism and Social Media: Medical Treatment Beyond Borders
By Vidushi Sharma, MD (AIIMS), FRCS (UK); and Suresh K. Pandey, MS (PGIMER), ASF (USA), Directors, SuVi Eye Institute and Lasik Laser Center, C 13 Talwandi, Kota, Rajasthan.
Email:suvieye@gmail.com; Phone 09351412449
The use of social media as a special tool for medical tourism by doctor to reach out more widely and build new relationships and professional associations. These interactions can sometimes reach internationally and help in building bridges across borders in what is increasingly becoming a global village. We all know that technology has undergone a huge revolution in recent times and has also impacted the field of medical education and treatment. The place of big, unwieldy books has been taken over in many instances by slim computers and sleek smartphones. With communication becoming so fast, social media has caught on and has attracted hoards of users all over the world. These sites as well as others help us remain in touch with professional colleagues and stay abreast of the latest developments. With the availability of sophisticated and inexpensive recording and editing devices and software, surgical videos can now be easily made and shared with colleagues through various websites and social media.
MEDICAL TOURISM-CONNECTING THROUGH YOUTUBE: Our interest in documentation and sharing eye surgery prompted us to make a YouTube channel dedicated to ophthalmic surgical videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/Drsureshkpandey) which attracted many views (241,882) and subscribers (238). This helped us to make new connections with ophthalmic colleagues, and it was our privilege to have ophthalmologists come over to SuVi Eye Institute & Lasik Laser Center, Kota, India for surgical training from as far away as Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Ireland. Their journey from a distant country to a small Indian city (Kota, Rajasthan) is a testament to the rising influence of social media interactions (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Medical Tourism and Medical Training- Dr Mubariz Qahramanov, an eye surgeon from Azerbaijan visited Kota, India for few weeks to learn & fine-tune his surgical skills in anterior segment and oculoplastic surgery. This is a testament to the rising influence of Internet, that the journey from Azarbaijan to Kota is possible despite the fact that there is no functioning airport in Kota. He watched our surgical videos on the net (YouTube) and visited SuVi Eye Institute, Kota, India.
Figure 2. Medical Tourism and Medical Training- Visiting ophthalmologists from Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hasan Al Taweel and Dr. Fahad Alwadni visited SuVi Eye Institute, Kota for 3 weeks. One of the reasons they came was to observe “a small city, small set-up, without frills where you could still deliver good services in the private practice set-up”.
TRANSCENDING BORDERS: While connecting with doctors (eye surgeons) from far away is a great experience, the real adventure of social media is in being able to connect with patients and the general public. The medical profession has always moved beyond borders, an example being Doctors Sans Borders and ORBIS aircraft being another glorious example of teaching and medical services beyond borders.
MEDICAL TOURISM: A JOURNEY FROM KARACHI TO KOTA: India and Pakistan share a troubled border, despite many efforts for peace. Many patients, especially children, have come over to India from Pakistan to receive medical treatment as well as surgical procedures at some big institutions. However, ours is a story of a Mr Fahim Uddin, a software engineer (working at Orthopedic and Medical Institute) from Karachi, Pakistan, who was a myope and developed cataracts at about 40 years of age. His own Internet search led him through IOL websites, and he decided he wanted a particular multifocal IOL (Tecnis Multifocal IOL, Abbott Medical Optics, USA) that was not available in Pakistan. He then searched for the IOL in India and found many videos we had posted on the implantation of this IOL. He communicated with us through social media, and, after a few interactions, developed so much trust that he decided to come to India for the surgery (Figure 3). He came over on a medical VISA that was issued by Indian embassy in Karachi, Pakistan after thorough scrutiny. He underwent cataract surgery on both eyes with the multifocal IOL of his choice at SuVi Eye Institute, Kota and was extremely happy with the results. He even saw a Bollywood movie (Bol Bachchan) in the theater immediately after surgery and toured the city and was thrilled with the excellent vision he had at both distance and near without glasses, with no significant night vision problems either. The fact that he had come over from Karachi, Pakistan for his eye surgery made him somewhat of a mini celebrity, and his visit was well covered by local media. A program- “Spreading Light Across the Border” (Aman Ki Roshni) was organized during his visit and Mayor of the City, the Inspector General of Police and some other prominent personalities of city participated (Figure 3). The speakers emphasized that with the help of social media the patient came to know about the Center in India and he undertook this journey from Karachi to Kota. His visit to India was a unique case of human trust and empathy that knows no boundaries, neither political, nor religious. When it comes to people to people interaction, Indians and Pakistanis have always been very warm to each other and this was just another reinforcement of the need for the two neighbors to live like friendly neighbors.
Figure. 3 A program, Spreading Light Across the Border (Aman Ki Roshni), was organized during the patient’s visit, in which the mayor of Kota, the Inspector General of Police, and other prominent personalities of the city participated. Left to right: Brahakumari Divisha, Mayor Dr. Ratna Jain, Mr. Amrit Kalash (IG Police), Shahar Kazi Anwar Ahmed, Mr. Fahim Uddin, Dr. Suresh K. Pandey, Mr. Tauqeer Bokhari, and Dr. Vidushi Sharma.
CONCLUSION: Social media has taken over our lives and has tremendous potential to be used as a networking tool to promote medical tourism. It provides us all a great opportunity to reach a wider audience, and eye surgery is especially suited for the sharing of surgical techniques and tips. These sites may prove to be just what the doctor ordered to bring about greater interaction and trust among people otherwise separated by manmade borders.
For a video on our experience using medical tourism and social media to transcend borders, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO233GCcLZk&list=UU12vTF4P0xWnhvjGbG2h94w&index=1.
About the Authors: Dr. Vidushi Sharma, MD (AIIMS), FRCS (UK), is a Director at SuVi Eye Institute & Lasik, Laser Centre, Kota, Rajasthan, India. She may be reached at tel: +91 93514 12449; e-mail: suvieye@gmail.com.
Dr. Suresh K. Pandey, MS (PGIMER), ASF (USA), is a Director at SuVi Eye Institute & Lasik, Laser Centre, Kota, Rajasthan, India, a visiting Assistant Professor at John A. Moran Eye Center University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, and a visiting surgeon at the Sydney Eye Hospital, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Australia. He may be reached at tel: +91 93514 12449; e-mail: suresh.pandey@gmail. com
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