Plastic Surgeons on Snapchat: Stahl and Vercler - Episode 10

Would you ever consent to have your medical procedure broadcast on social media? This episode addresses a trend known as Snapchat surgeons – plastic surgeons who amass sometimes millions of followers on the social media platform Snapchat by posting uncensored videos of operations they are performing. These videos are often highly stylized, comedic, and meant to entertain.

Guests Dr. Devan Stahl, Assistant Professor in the Center for Ethics and the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and Dr. Christian Vercler, Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan and Co-Chief of the Clinical Ethics Service in the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, have published research on the subject, most notably in the AMA Journal of Ethics in April of this year. Together they offer their insight and expertise on the issue, and discuss whether these Snapchat performances are ethical. They also delve into the societal norms and power dynamics at play, and address how to move forward within the profession of plastic surgery in a world where social media seems to be here to stay.

This episode was produced and edited by Liz McDaniel in the Center for Ethics. Music: "While We Walk (2004)" by Antony Raijekov via Free Music Archive, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. A full episode transcript is available at bioethics.msu.edu.