Plastic surgeons have joined a growing trend of advertising their craft in reality show style.
They are turning to Snapchat, an app launched in 2011 for photo-sharing and video-messaging with snaps lasting only for a few seconds before they disappear from the screen. They can be viewed within a 24-hour period but screenshots of snaps can be taken and saved in picture form.
A Tale Of Two Surgeons
Snapchat is becoming a popular marketing tool in plastic surgery where photos and videos of surgical procedures can be shared. For doctors Matthew Schulman and Michael Salzhauer, the app forms part of a larger social media strategy and the approach has proven to be working for their businesses and for hypercritical patients.
Dr Schulman, a plastic surgeon practicing in New York City, started using Snapchat for his profession about a year ago, reported FoxNews. He works on about 35 to 40 surgeries per month. It indeed can be a stressful job working on people's bodies every day and making sure they are happy after. There has got to be a fun way of doing it and for Dr. Schulman, Snapchat is thay way.
"I was always looking for a way to broadcast my surgeries and get it out there, and interact with patients and future patients," Dr. Schulman told FoxNews.com. He said he now has several hundred thousand followers and about 450,000 views daily. He added that about 80 to 85 percent of the patients who visit him for consultation are active Snapchat users.
One such patient is Jessica Wilson who made a final decision to go under the knife after watching Dr. Schulman's Snapchat. She told FoxNews that the plastic surgeon's Snapchat is not just entertaining but educational from a medical standpoint for people planning to try plastic surgery for either aesthetic or medical purposes.
Dr. Schulman traditionally works on breast and body surgeries and non-surgical procedures such as Botox fillers, chemical peels and facials. 90 percent of his patients allow him to post snaps of their surgeries on Snapchat and are made to sign a consent as to how he may use their surgery footages, including "before" and "after" photos.
Business Insider reported on another plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Salzhauer, whose name is synonymous with the Brazilian butt lift or BBL. More popularly known as Dr. Miami, he tucks bellies and pops bottoms live in an operating room filled with hip hop soundtrack and a funny supporting cast of nurses and assistants, but obviously assuming the starring role in his own Snapchat show.
Dr. Miami told VICE that his Snapchat broadcasts have given him the most fun since medical school.
"The social media allows me to express my creativity, to reach out to patients, to connect to them on a human level, and not so much the buttoned-up, white-coat, I'm the doctor sort of thing," he confessed.
Live plastic surgery may not be for every plastic surgeon because it does take some effort and talent. But for doctors Schulman and Salzhauer, Snapchat is a fun way of connecting with their patients and luring potential patients while becoming celebrities in their own right.
Photo: Tomas Obsivac | Flickr
