Archive for April, 2009

Allan Hamilton, MD, Consultant for Grey’s Anatomy

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

To link to post: http://bit.ly/8r4oB

Patrick Dempsey doesn’t make a medical move on Grey’s Anatomy without the advice of the real life McDreamy, Dr. Allan Hamilton.

“Almost all the patients I end up using [as characters in Grey's]…are based on real patients or a group of real experiences with patients.”

“Brand integration is enormous…I’ve actually seen more modern prototypes coming out in Grey’s than I did on the floor of the actual convention.”

“The pictures of doctors as a whole human being or flawed human beings has really progressed…and you sort of have this feeling that in a way it’s an image of medicine, it’s the brilliance of medicine that’s sort of pushed to the point of breakdown and that is to some extent a reflection of what’s happening in medicine today.”

“We had one episode where an equipment malfunction was part of the plot…so we had to be very careful about what the equipment is and how it can relate. In general, there’s an emphasis on [wanting to include] the state of the art, and we get great cooperation from manufacturers about placement.”

Dr. Laura Jana, Pediatrician, Author, and Spokesperson

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

To link to post: http://bit.ly/o3epw

Dr. Laura Jana discusses the need to balance Mommy Bloggers life experiences with trained doctor’s information in health communications.

Some of Laura’s VlogViews:

“The reason why mommy bloggers have risen to such a high status level in the media world is because they really give that human voice and the reality of parenting. They have something good to say. But they’re wielding enormous power now…and they don’t necessarily have to maintain the same credibility that I do as a physician that a journalist does with reporting. You think they would, but look who is talking and where they have gotten there info from.”

“You don’t want to be dispensing direct medical advice when your talking to a million viewers because then you’re not acknowledging that there is important information you need on an individual basis…Anybody giving any sort of health related information, you’ve got to watch and say if they’re giving that information and you think they shouldn’t be, there is a reason why they shouldn’t be.”

“When I’m looking to work with companies, I have very high standards for myself, and what I will do and won’t do and I won’t cross those lines so I don’t do the infomercials and if somebody is expecting direct brand placement, I’m not the right person for that…But then I also say, ‘What can I do for them?’ And the people you are working with at the company or the PR firm for the company better want to know what you have to say, not just handing you a script.”

Frank Papay, M.D., Surgeon, First Near Total Face Transplant in the US

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

To link to post: http://bit.ly/17Sg9x

Dr. Frank Papay, Surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, discusses what it was like to be caught in the media firestorm surrounding the first near-total face transplant in the US.

Some of Frank’s VlogViews:

“We did it at a very fast pace. We were excited, yet calm. We were in our own environment. We were sort of cloistered in the operation room and it went very, very well.”

“After we got permission from our media department, we scheduled a large media release…From my understanding, it was one of the biggest media events in the US last year, and I was scared. My heart was racing; I was sweating…The surgery was much easier than the media event.”

“What is a face? Our face is really our public outlook of the world and how the world perceives us. It affects everything about us…You need a face to face the world.”

Dr. Maria Simbra, KDKA Pittsburgh

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Dr. Maria Simbra, Medical Producer for KDKA in Pittsburgh, discusses online news coverage and how medical news is changing.

Some of Maria’s VlogViews:

“Some things don’t change. [When communicating medical stories] you always want to keep it simple, keep it very easy to understand for the viewer. The biggest thing that has changed, though, is how much is going on the Web now. Every story I do for the Evening News now automatically gets transferred to the Web.”

“It’s actually easier for [people I cover] to watch [their story on the Web] because they’re often still working at the time the evening news airs…They get the chance to watch it later in the evening after they get home…And they will often pass it on to other people they know to show what they did.”

“I’m at least required to do one [story] a day, but sometimes two or three depending on the needs of the newscast. It’s a high-pressure time frame.”

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