Fancy your hand at surgery? We’ve got an app for that
A surgeon is using a phone app to help train doctors in surgical techniques in developing countries.
Mr Abdul Ahmed, a consultant maxillofacial surgeon at Northwick Park Hospital, uploads the step-by-step video guides to the Touch Surgery app along with advice, insights and Q&As.
Abdul said: “An instructional video is always going to be more useful than a book and the fact that more people have access to smartphones than expensive medical textbooks shows how useful it can be.
“I’ve uploaded several videos and it’s great to be able to practically share what I do with students and fellow surgeons in countries that don’t have the same resources.
“I also use it with trainees going through the department prior to them dealing with patients.”
More than five billion people worldwide don’t have access to safe surgical services and the surgical simulator provides a realistic and detailed guide to every step of the procedure allowing health professionals to test their knowledge, and rehearse for surgery.