Surgical education on YouTube.

T he increasing popularity of internet social media is likely to present new opportunities and challenges to current paradigms in medical education. 1 Some advocate that social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and so forth) can enhance learning opportunities outside the classroom, and can be especially helpful to promote self-directed learning. 1 YouTube (www. youtube.com) was created in 2005, and rapidly became the fourth most visited website in the world, and was honored as invention of the year in 2006. 2 YouTube, a free online site, is yet to be explored as an educational tool. More recently, universities, hospitals, and other organizations have established YouTube channels to deliver their own ideas worldwide. 3 The objective of this paper is to explore the current use of YouTube as a tool in medical education to enhance learning. A second objective was to see whether YouTube videos can replace the 2-dimensional surgical atlas. Some of the published literature looked at YouTube as an educational tool for patients regarding disease, but the focus of this review is on education of surgical trainees, especially focusing on preparation for surgical procedures. A Medline database search using the keyword " YouTube " was carried out. The initial search revealed 7634 articles. The literature search was then limited to education and English language. The search was mapped to subject heading. The citation lists of 230 articles were read to sort out relevant articles discussing YouTube and medical education. A PubMed database search was also carried out to ensure inclusion of relevant articles, and 259 articles were found. After removing duplicates and unrelated articles, an additional 18 abstracts were included. A total of 85 original articles and commentaries were included in this review. While many tackled patient education, only few specifically discussed YouTube as an educational tool to enhance learning. 3 discussed the use of YouTube in nursing education. They started by arguing that universities remain driven by historical pedagogies, while technologies are advancing, and students are requesting interactive and interesting models of teaching. 2 They stressed on the importance of staying in pace with their internet generation students. The authors clearly explain why using YouTube is beneficial for education. For example, YouTube is a recognized digital environment for students that could be utilized as a tool for learning and teaching, as well as, entertainment. It is available for students anytime and everywhere, allowing them to engage in their learning …