It’s our pleasure to start off the new year with an episode on social media and surgery! In this episode, we were joined by Dr. Sean Langenfeld (https://twitter.com/seanlangenfeld). Dr. Langenfeld is a colorectal surgeon at the University of Nebraska and has spent a long time doing research and thinking about social media and surgery. We talk about the concept of “professionalism” on social media, the infamous “medbikini” incident, and online reputation management.

Links:

1. An assessment of unprofessional behavior among surgical residents on Facebook: a warning of the dangers of social media. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24981657/
2. The Glass Houses of Attending Surgeons: An Assessment of Unprofessional Behavior on Facebook Among Practicing Surgeons. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26276300/
3. CNN article on #MedBikini: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/25/cnn10/medbikini-backlash-and-apologies-trnd/index.html
4. RETRACTED: Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons. https://www.jvascsurg.org/article/S0741-5214(19)32587-X/fulltext
5. Social Dilemma documentary. https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81254224
6. ASCRS Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/fascrs/groups/

Bio (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4755771/):

Dr. Sean Langenfeld is a staff colon and rectal surgeon at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE. Sean received his undergraduate and medical school training at St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO, and performed his General Surgery Residency training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, KS. Following this, Sean completed his Colon and Rectal Surgery residency at the University of Texas, in Houston, TX. Since that time he has been at the University of Nebraska where he is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Associate Program Director for the General Surgery Residency. He is also the Director, Endoscopic Simulation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Sean remains a busy active clinician and academic surgeon, teaching residents on a daily basis. He is an active researcher and has several ongoing projects on the use of social media in surgery and simulation training in the era of the modern residency. He is an active participant in multiple surgical societies and serves on several national committees of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Sean and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children, and live in Omaha, NE. When not working, Sean enjoys playing in a men's soccer league, watching all Creighton Bluejays' sports teams, and is a huge Nebraska Cornhusker football fan.

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