What social media platforms do you use to find information about breast reconstruction? Is it TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube? This interview summary with Dr. Andrew Gassman of PRMA in San Antonio is about finding credibility in the noise – social media, breast reconstruction, and your experience.
Dr. Gassman’s Interest in How Patients are Utilizing Social Media for Breast Reconstruction
Dr. Andrew Gassman is a highly skilled and capable individual who knows DIEP flap breast reconstruction well. He joined the group at PRMA in January of 2021 and works with nine other microsurgeons who primarily perform autologous breast reconstruction for those affected by breast cancer. Before his time at PRMA he spent several years as an associate professor teaching future surgeons advanced breast reconstruction technique.
He continues to be an active researcher. Our conversation addresses his interest in how patients want to chat, how to reach more people to offer sound breast reconstruction information, and how folks who grew up in this technological era find credibility in the noise.
Where are Breast Cancer Patients Going to Find Information?
Dr. Gassman has seen an increase in patients getting breast cancer at a younger and younger age. Many of these patients have grown up on social media. This is how they communicate. Adding the new context of somebody just being handed a horrible diagnosis, now we’re wondering where they go to talk to people, where they go to get reliable information. Where do they look? Where is a credible baseline to them in terms of, “This is the place that makes sense for me to get my information.”
TikTok is one such platform based in thirty second increments. Dr. Gassman acknowledges it has widespread use. He asks the listeners the following questions about their research choices.
- Is TikTok the best alternative for breast reconstruction information?
- Is reliable information found via Google search?
- Does this really pull people in to learn about their options?
I share what my youngest son said about Google and social media research in this quote.
If Dr. Google is a barometer for medicine, medicine is going in the wrong direction.
Authenticity and Credibility on Social Media
There is a very real but subtle difference in the world of finding breast cancer and breast reconstruction information in terms of authenticity and credibility. I share that authenticity refers to those stories of patient experience. People are drawn to these social media accounts when they are hungry to find information. I feel it is important not to get caught up in the dopamine rush that sometimes draws us to social media.
How do patients separate out the cacophony of noise by really calming all the information down and saying, “What is it that I really want to know?” Dr. Gassman shares that everything has a balance. He points out a lot of the social media platforms have immense reach, which is a true advantage in that they really can get a message out and get it out quickly. Updates, trends can be shared very quickly. Dr. Gassman tells us surgeons cannot give true medical advice via social media platforms because it is one hundred percent irresponsible. Patients should not be seeing this information on social media as anything specific or diagnostic. General truths, however, can be distributed through social media channels.
Communities Created on Social Media
Dr. Gassman explains there is a concept in where multiple but different social media channels overlap and communities are created. By broadcasting to multiple different platforms people can enter the conversation through different points. He shares that as long as they are willing to help sift through the noise and get into a community much like yours (DiepCJourney Facebook page), people are supporting each other. They are editing out anything that is just chatter and getting to the heart of the matter and what they really need to learn. To him, that’s the critical part.
We continued our conversation talking about the physical separation that occurs on social media. I compare the added energy it takes to read body language and absorb the energy of a person who is physically close to you vs. holding a phone or looking at a computer screen engaging in conversation with a keyboard or texting. Dr. Gassman feels part of being a good clinician is frankly reading the room. He says it is a good attribute for people in general to have, but not everybody does.
How to Determine Accurate Breast Reconstruction Information
If a patient comes to a consultation with misinformation from social media, he addresses it immediately. Dr. Gassman’s first question for patients is, “What is your understanding of breast reconstruction?” He asks this because he needs to know what they have been told. Finding out the channel that patients are getting their information from is becoming increasingly relevant. It is important for him to find out what they are being told.
Dr. Gassman feels when they can tell him some of the details as well or sometimes even better than he could say it in a short amount of time, this tells him they really grasped the topic very well. Some of his patients bring in scientific articles. They may not be the most accurate or germane for that topic. But, it shows him they are very tuned in to what they want to know.
Conversely, patients who appear to be completely overwhelmed by a new diagnosis coming in for consultation need to be communicated to in such a way that they are not further overwhelmed. Delivery of the message is critical. He encourages patients to go to well-established larger organizations within the breast cancer community to get a “landscape” of what they should know about breast reconstruction.
Shared Decision-Making in Breast Reconstruction Consultation
PRMA is a big proponent of the shared decision-making model in breast reconstruction. They lay out several options for patients. He shares that his philosophy to the patient is, “Where do you want this to go?” Is returning for revisions and touchups something that you are considering in one year or ten years? Patients are asked if they would prefer to have this all done in a shorter time period.
He then leaves it to the patient and asks, “Of these processes, what makes the most sense to you?” Dr. Gassman allows the patient to share what they need based on their lifestyle. Dr. Gassman smiles and shares a case in point he had that day in consult. A patient came to the room with her children in tow and said to him, “This is my priority.” Surgeons deal with all ages and stages of breast cancer patients.
Wrapping Up Our Social Media Conversation
Dr. Gassman makes an interesting analogy. He compares the world of social media to taking the yellow pages we once used and shredding it up spreading it all over the planet. We need to reach into all these platforms, effectively reaching the entire yellow pages. He jokingly says he wonders if some of the viewers even know what the yellow pages are.
At the end of the day, he feels like his responsibility is to go and pick up the pieces of the shared fund of knowledge of where people are now. He acknowledges the message comes from various social media platforms. However, it is important to find that “recipe” that gets a similar message across. It might be with a certain number of characters. Perhaps it is a short ten second video, a full minute video, or a platform where one can have a thirty-minute conversation.
Cumulatively, the same message delivery should be happening across those platforms but broken down by the specific recipe that each platform has. What this ideally will do is send out a beacon of information. It will be a light, which draws people to what will lead them to a community. Finding these communities via social media allowing them to feel safe becomes important. Honoring all these social media platforms is what we both agree is important in our collective communities.
A Personal Note of Congratulations to the Team at PRMA
At the beginning of our interview, I acknowledge a milestone reached by the team at PRMA in the year 2024. Dr. Gassman and his team are celebrating 30 years of service to the breast cancer community. They have performed over twelve thousand free flap breast reconstruction procedures. This includes patients from around the world. Congratulations go out to the entire team who work to make this happen each day.
You can listen to the entire interview here on Spotify.