Game Changer for Surgeons
Surgical peers are brought together at PONSIST. Informa Markets introduces the founder of a hot tech start up and uncovers the story behind the Global Surgical Society.
After almost two decades of working closely with surgeons from all specialties, and because the list of shameless scandals in the Tech industry lead by Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook, is a never ending story, Alinda Jansen, a native Dutch residing in Dubai, has boldly decided to take matters into her own hands and created PONSIST. A worldwide professional social media platform exclusive for verified surgeons. She’s enabling them to inspire each other, share experiences and techniques, improve the surgical act and leverage overall healthcare conditions among peers.
Positive impact
In todays world you may waiver away your rights to personal content and privacy in just one click, however it is the same world of endless online possibilities. As for the domain of surgeons, their options were quite underdeveloped.
Driven by a congenital passion for surgery and outraged by the lack of respect for privacy in the online world, Alinda put two and two together and took matters into her own hands when she pledged to make a positive change. She now runs her Healthcare Social Media platform based on honesty and old fashioned respect for privacy.
‘I wanted to do something positive for all surgeons in the world. I’ve been lucky to have dealt with surgical specialists in many different countries and I’m aware that it takes a lot of a person to be a surgeon, especially in current times, requiring maximum performance in minimum time with ever increasing hours spent on the administrative burden.
There weren’t many digital solutions for surgical specialists to come together and share insights. Especially not on a global level.’ she explains and with endearing energy, she continues; ‘The landscape was marked by digital solutions either owned or heavily sponsored by the medical industry. Leaving them at least somewhat biased.
Platforms bringing higher scientific value are mostly initiated by doctors experiencing similar frustrations, but they don’t seem to reach their full potential due to lack of proper development and promotion. It inspired me to come up with positive solution on a global quest for knowledge’.
PONSIST hits home when it comes to being private and is tailored to the demanding needs of surgeons. Connecting all surgeons on the globe is a massive task with many variables to consider.
‘There’s a lot of overlap in (sub)specialties around the world. There’s a grey area in expertise amongst specialities and it differs per country, sometimes even per hospital. Different specialists bring different angles to a similar procedure. It’s quite complex when you think about it.
I found a way to cross link the overlapping procedures and bring those differences together, giving PONSIST a real advantage!’
Medical Enthusiasm
Alinda has a track record when it comes to understanding the people that hold a scalpel and she knows about the challenges they encounter. Having visited countless theatres and spending numerous ‘down time’-hours chatting with surgeons, she felt the desire to do something positive with her experiences.
‘I’ve had an interest in the medical field for as long as I can recall. As three-year old my favourite book was a medical encyclopedia. I spent hours trying to figure out the human anatomy! Ever since I’ve been learning as much as I could, I still do. It was inevitable that I ended up in this field professionally’, she states smilingly.
Apart from being a medical enthusiast she’s a charismatic speaker and as well as a natural challenger. For that reason her profession path led into Sales with some of the biggest players in the medical industry.
‘To the frustration of several managers, I’ve never been one to be driven by monetised targets. Instead of implementing the latest slick Sales models I chose to have genuine conversations. I am a firm believer that life is in fact Sales, any conversation needs to lead somewhere and that is never a one way street. My favourite way of getting levelled discussions going was to organise a “Three Course Discussion”.
I’d get a group of surgeons together for a meal and had one topic to discuss per course. I’d choose enticing topics that challenged the Golden Standard or something that was trending at that moment. Anyone joining would go home that evening with new insights and a full belly. I believe it was this behaviour that made me a successful Sales woman’.
Globetrotting Surgery
A few years ago Alinda relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to pursue her career as a Trainer for a multinational in Orthopaedic devices. In this position she covered a huge part of the world.
The knowledge she gained from meeting many different people gave her tremendous insights in the world of surgery and formed the last bit of fuel she needed to change her course. She managed to interview hundreds of surgeons about her ideas leading to the same outcome every time. Outcomes that supported her thoughts on how information is shared within the surgical world and what could be done to improve it.
‘Centralisation was key. I needed time to focus on developing my plans, so I quit my job to be able to dedicate all of my hours to creating a positive change. Surgeons are taking to the internet more each day, but until recently the tools weren’t ideal for their needs.’
PONSIST has the advantages of regular social media, but lacks the public audience and the selfish executives. What’s left is a safe, secluded area where surgeons from all nations collaborate, share insights, raise questions, start discussions and learn from each other with functionalities that are tailored to how a surgeon thinks and operates.
There’s no need to create your own network of connections because you’re immediately in with the right crowd that takes you farther then anything you could establish by yourself. As soon as you have gone through a strict, unautomated verification process, you are connected to every specialist present that shares your expertise and interests.
The platform has a familiar feel to it, you have a content fed timeline and the option to appreciate the work of peers with a wax seal for professional courtesy. In addition PONSIST comes with a second timeline called Affiliations. It’s intended to set up easy cross border collaborations.
‘In surgery evidence as well as consensus can be spread rather thin. By making it easy to collaborate across nations, you will not only extend your individual reach, but you’ll also be able to tap into a much larger patient population. This eventually leads to shorter trial times and qualitative outcomes. In my book that is a direct advantage for all Surgeons.’, the founder elaborates.
Fresh Approach
Where all professional and social platforms use a certain business tactics, PONSIST is in a league of its own when it comes to being transparant. The creation of a fresh business approach finds its origin in early 2018, a year marking a watershed in the history of social media and personal data breeches with the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Scandal.
‘I was appalled when I watched the news unfold. It most certainly wasn’t the first scandal, but it was by far the biggest. It’s a mere matter of increasing wealth, status and power for a select group. That’s why I came up with a different and honest scheme that isn’t based on gathering intel to reach hidden objectives.
PONSIST does not track your behaviour, it doesn’t log your every move, and it most certainly does not sell your data. Instead the Global Surgical Society obeys its own transparant and refreshingly easy to read policies just as they expect from their members.
There aren’t any cookies inside PONSIST apart from the ones you need the make a website run smooth, there’s no purpose for them. The only reason I’m doing this is to create a positive online change and to help the ones that help so many.
In the process of chasing this personal desire I’m also challenging the tech giants of our time. I was raised on the belief that honesty is the best policy, it may not be the easiest path to choose, it does give me every reason to push forward and make that change.
The future smiles bright on surgeons, developments and improvements continu to happen as the society grows.’
When it comes to having a clear vision, expertise in the field, and passion for privacy and honesty you can’t conclude anything other than this lady is mastering it all.
For more details on PONSIST or to apply for free access you can go to https://www.ponsist.com
Alternatively you can reach out personally to Alinda through her profile on LinkedIN at
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