Objective: To find the impact of WhatsApp on patient management and multi-disciplinary discussion in different WhatsApp groups (tumor board, surgical meetings, or conference updates) and to identify the role of WhatsApp in residents' learning and medical education.
Methodology: This cross-sectional survey was conducted from 1st June to 30th June 2021 at surgical Unit 3, Dr. Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital, DUHS, Karachi. It included Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, and Senior Registrars, Registrars, postgraduates, and interns. A questionnaire was made on the Google Form and circulated among all the doctors.
Results: Majority (88.8%) of participants thought that WhatsApp played a major role during the COVID-19 pandemic for online management and learning. Likewise, 91.2% recommended it to other hospitals for inter-hospital communication and updates. About 82.5% agreed that it improves patient management. Approximately 42% got the desired answer regarding patient-related issues in 5 to 10 minutes.
Conclusion: WhatsApp is an effective tool for healthcare communication and medical academics. It is one of the easiest, quickest to use, and cheap applications.
Key words: WhatsApp, communication, smartphone, medical education, surgery, video consultation, pandemic.
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