We received considerable media and social media coverage during the 2018 RACS Annual Scientific Congress (ASC) which took place in Sydney between 7 - 11 May.
We had more than 120 media clips across broadcast, print and online in Australia and New Zealand. Some highlights included:
- Channel 7 TV featured a story on how 3D print-outs of the human body are helping surgeons practice operations before a patient goes into theatre.
- A story on domestic violence featuring various presentations including Dr Angela Jay was widely covered and went viral on social media.
- Research by medical student Sarah McLain showed that the 'hidden curriculum' was keeping best and brightest from becoming surgeons.
- A story on cosmetic showed that tourism is a booming $300 million-dollar industry with more than 15,000 Australians travelling overseas for cosmetic surgery each year. The review by Dr Olivia Perotti discovered botched overseas cosmetic procedures is increasing the burden on Australia's already stretched public health system.
- New research by Dr Jackie Tran showed family dogs are responsible for most attacks garnered coverage across Australia, particularly in regional media.
- Professor Jeffrey Rosenberg's presentation on starting a training course to deal with hemorrhaging during terrorism attacks was covered in dozens of radio stations and print media.
- A Wellington study by Dr Swee Tan showed that violence is the 'leading cause' of facial fractures.
- Dr Kerin Fielding was quoted in a story on obesity and surgery carried by The Age and other media.
Social media
- Our social media presence continued to grow with the RACS ASC providing lots of content and engagement. Total impressions for Facebook grew by 183.2% and total engagements increased by a whopping 341.5% since the last month. Twitter engagements also went up by 224.5% and LinkedIn engagements were up by 94.4%.
- Posts on Facebook made 168,000 impressions which was very encouraging. The top post was the moving story about Dr Angela Jay which reached over 21,000 accounts and had 670 reactions. The post also generated discussion on domestic violence. Another high-ranking post was the news story on female surgeons which reached over 10,000 accounts and was commented on 63 times.
- The top post on Twitter was the news story about Women in Surgery, reaching 54,000 people and being clicked on over 1200 times. Also featured in the top posts was the domestic violence article which reached 36,500 people and over 2700 click throughs.
Banner photo credit: Janie Barrett.