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Now Streaming: How To Do a Kidney Transplant (vice.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the take-two-videos-and-call-me-in-the-morning dept.

tedlistens writes: In January, hundreds of students enrolled in the University of Leiden Medical School's 'Clinical Kidney Transplantation.' But they weren't there: the class is completely virtual, the world's first massively open online course to offer instruction in the surgical procedure. Taught by 13 doctors through videos and interactive modules...the free course isn't intended to replace real-life education with hospital patients. Nor is it likely to prepare students to conduct a kidney transplant anytime soon. (For a fee, students can receive a certificate of completion.) But it's part of a new digital push among medical schools around the world, including Harvard and Stanford, that are seeking to educate a generation of students raised on smartphones and to expand their audiences to virtually anyone with a computer and an internet connection.

1 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. A Living Donor's viewpoint by linuxgurugamer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Last June I donated one of my kidneys to someone I didn't know. It saved his life.

    Currently, there are over 93,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list. The wait for a deceased donor could be 5 years, and in some states, it is closer to 10 years. Patients are prioritized by how long they’ve been on the waiting list, their blood type, immune system activity and other factors. 80% of the people on the waiting list are on kidney dialysis. The longer a person is on dialysis and has to wait for a transplant, the short and long term success rates are negatively affected. On average, receiving a kidney transplant can double someone’s life expectancy.

      Each day, 18 Americans die waiting for an organ transplant.

    Please consider donating your kidneys after death, it can save lives. Better yet, consider doing a living donation such as what I did. All medical costs are covered by the recipient's insurance company. The results after a living donation are much better than after a post-mortum donation.

    While the risks are not zero, they are about the lowest you can expect for any major surgery you can undergo as a donor