Posted on 17 March 2008.
My wife and I have been watching the latest wave of reality TV shows — Oprah’s Big Give, etc. — and I thought, with all the new rankings of hospitals and physicians out there, perhaps we could combine the two.
I title it “America’s Next Top Surgeon” and it would go something like this.
We pick 10 nationally ranked surgeons (thanks, Castle Connolly) and run them through a series of surgery-related challenges — Surprise! Today you’re a nurse; Surprise! Today you operate without lighting! — while judges look on and score the results: “When you told that family their terminally ill father wasn’t going to make it, I just didn’t feel the sincerity I’d hoped to.”
For judges, I’m thinking Steve Case from Revolution Health, Kerry Hicks from HealthGrades, and maybe Randy Jackson from American Idol since he had gastric bypass surgery. (“That closing technique was off the hook, dawg!”)
At the end of every episode, one surgeon would be excised from the show: “I’m sorry doctor, it’s time to hang up your scrubs.”
The winner would get a 64-CT scanner, da Vinci robot, and a Gamma Knife.
ABC, CBS — give me a call. We’re talking at least 13 share points.
About Paul Griffiths
Paul has been CEO of MedTouch since April of 2007 and, prior to that, held the position of COO. As a co-founder, he has helped set the vision for the company from its inception. Paul is an active speaker in the healthcare marketing community. In addition to the dozen webinars MedTouch presents each year, Paul can be seen and heard giving lively talks around the country about helping healthcare organizations succeed online: from New England (NESHCo), to Tennessee (TSHPRM), Florida (FSHPRM), and Las Vegas (Annual Healthcare Internet Conference).
Prior to MedTouch, Paul managed online brand experiences for a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has over 15 years of combined experience in online commerce, interactive marketing, experience design and content management solutions. Most notably, he directed the consumer-facing channel for the now defunct Send.com, an online gift delivery network that raised $45 million from such VC luminaries as Greylock, Highland Capital, Benchmark and Charles Rivers Ventures in the late 1990s.
Paul earned a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College.
When he’s not traveling across the country to visit clients or to speak at healthcare conferences, Paul runs a humanitarian non-profit with his wife. He’s thrilled to finally have a yard for his dogs and two boys, and often daydreams of spending a summer in Iceland.
Yesterday me and my husband were watching america’s top model episodes, then my husband said I wish they had a show for ‘america’s top surgeons’ then I would be in it. I am totally for it, and for winner, I prefer money, magazine layout ect. You may respond via my e-mail.