Guidelines for Using the Cardiothoracic Operation as a Teaching
Instrument 1. When planning to record or broadcast an operation,
special attention must be paid to the needs and rights of the
potential patient-subject. a. A patient’s informed consent for
participating as a subject in a live or taped broadcast must be
obtained directly by the operating surgeon. b. The surgeon must
disclose the fact of increased risks of harm to the patient and
the uncertainty of the degree of such risks, as well as the
composition and size of the audience and estimates of the
potential educational benefits to participating surgeons. c. The
attending surgeon must take all necessary steps to protect the
patient-subject’s privacy and to ensure confidentiality of all
medical information. 2. Generally, recorded broadcasts, either
edited or unedited, are preferable to live surgery broadcasts
because recordings intended for later broadcast pose fewer risks
of harm to patients. 3. Teaching surgical techniques by live
surgery observatio