New Media Platforms for Teaching and Networking: Emerging Global Opportunities for Breast Surgeons

The framework of breast care is changing rapidly due to the increasing success of systemic therapies for breast cancer, and consequently, surgeons need to adapt themselves to the changing role of surgery in its management. Real-world evidence indicates that breast cancer patient-related outcomes are better if they are managed by specialized physicians and surgeons. On the other hand, the curriculum for the training of breast surgeons is expanding and includes skills that involve newer surgical techniques and nonsurgical technologies. De-escalation of surgery and also the fact that quality of life is becoming one of the priorities in breast cancer management require breast surgeons to be competent in all aspects of multidisciplinary management. Classical teaching including master-apprentice relation-based training is no more sufficient to satisfy the expectations of the trainees. However, on the other hand, the sources for contemporary postgraduate education are relatively scarce when considering these fast changes in the field. Therefore, there is a continuing quest among breast surgeons for finding ways to maintain their professional development.

Classrooms and operating theaters without walls that came with the internet boom brought substantial opportunities for breast surgeons. Platforms such as BreastGlobal, Breastics24 h, Global Breast Hub, Oncoplastic Academy-Brazil, ibreastbook, Virtual Breast Oncoplastic Surgical Simulator, and CluBreast helped surgeons who needed to get contemporary training and interaction for their professional continuous development. Networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are also among the social media platforms for professional groups to interact. National and global breast surgery societies also provide periodical online meetings and congresses for their members in order to satisfy the ongoing demand for training, interaction, and networking. Therefore, web-based platforms helped many surgeons from different parts of the world who could not afford to travel or did not have time to attend the necessary meetings due to their limited time and resources. Moreover, these online programs may have also encouraged surgeons to pursue specialized training in breast surgery which in turn should be expected to increase the quality of breast care in their countries.

The platforms have downsides such as practical training and role modeling are limited and the opportunity of receiving real-time feedback on skills requirements lacks and networking would not be productive as expected. Nevertheless, web-based platforms require certain technology and infrastructure which still could not be provided everywhere.