New York, NY — “Reading about a surgical procedure in a book — even one with great pictures — is a poor substitute for the real thing. High-quality video is a superior training medium.” So says Dr. Henry Spotnitz, Professor of Surgery at Columbia University (CU)’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Spotnitz and his colleagues endeavor to provide their students with the best-possible surgical training. That’s why residents, interns, and medical students at the university now have online access to over 60 videos that demonstrate a variety of surgical procedures. And, that’s why CU’s staff has selected Apple’s Final Cut Pro as their editing system of choice.

One of the preeminent medical schools in the country, CU has maintained a tradition of excellence that stretches back to the 1800s. Always seeking out innovative methods of instruction, Spotnitz says the release of iMovie sparked interest in video-based training in his department. Dr. Eric Rose, chairman of surgery at Columbia, and Dr. Mark Hardy, director of resident education, also enthusiastically supported the concept of a video training library.

”When Apple released iMovie, it was clear that this was a cost-effective way of producing high-quality videos that are essential to an educational effort such as ours,” says Spotnitz. “We have terrific audiovisual support at Columbia. But the cost of doing longer-length training films is really out of our reach. Our goal, using the Apple products, was to create a series of videos in a very cost-effective way.”

Final Cut Pro Helps Videographer Do It All
Enter Dana DeBarr. DeBarr, an aspiring future surgeon, has evolved into a one-person production company. She now works in close partnership with attending surgeons and house staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital, determining which procedures should be videotaped, and gathering the necessary consents from patients, doctors, and the hospital’s legal department. She then writes the scripts, captures all necessary video footage in the operating room, records voice-over narrations, creates graphics and slides, edits the videos, and handles any of a hundred details that crop up along the way.

iMovie had been used to produce the first few movies. But recognizing the more sophisticated capabilities that Final Cut Pro offered, DeBarr opted to learn that product. Despite the fact that she had no prior experience in video production or editing, she says Final Cut Pro helped her hit the ground running.

”I took a few classes from a Final Cut Pro instructor and participated in workshops at Apple retail stores in New York City,” DeBarr says. “It was fairly easy to get started. I’m still learning — I pick up new techniques with each project.”