For years, surgeons have uploaded videos on YouTube and other sites for marketing and educations purposes. With the rise of other sites like Snapchat and Instagram, some surgeons have gained significant followings by live broadcasting their surgeries, including the use of “theatrics” such as dressing up in costumes and dancing.

These developments raise significant ethical concerns, prompting the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons to come out with guidelines regarding the practice. These including making sure the patient consents to such videotaping and/or broadcasting and all that go with it. For example, if the surgery is going to be uploaded to one of the above websites, other social media users can download the videos, share them, and even manipulate them.

Further, the proposed guidelines include considering hiring a trained videographer, so that the amount of operative time isn’t increased because the surgeon him or herself is tasked with taking the video.

You can read the full journal article here:

[The Ethics of Sharing Plastic Surgery Videos on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review, Ethical Analysis, and Proposed Guidelines](http://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Fulltext/2017/10000/The_Ethics_of_Sharing_Plastic_Surgery_Videos_on.35.aspx?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=1c540fc3a1-MR&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-1c540fc3a1-149951437)