On a routine basis, representatives of a particular surgical group that was created 20 years or so ago insist that only they should be allowed to perform cosmetic surgery.
It is understandable that these doctors would like less competition when it comes to performing liposuctions, facelifts, and breast augmentations. But the decisive factor herein must always be the patient’s interest in receiving optimum care. This means that cosmetic surgery must continue to receive impetus for improvement and new developments from all medical fields. Cosmetic surgery belongs to all medical fields entitled to perform it!
Cosmetic surgery procedures cannot be taught in any medical hospital internship, as teaching hospitals obviously address very different types of medical cases. Hence doctors from all medical fields wishing to specialize in cosmetic surgery must complete private advanced training courses abroad. How well a doctor then performs a special procedure depends solely on talent and practice, no matter what professional group the doctor belongs to!
The crux of the development in cosmetic surgery lies in the replacement of invasive reconstructive interventions with scalpels, scars, and anesthesia by gentle, minimally invasive interventions, preferably with no permanent scars. It comes as no surprise that trends toward less surgery often come from doctors who aren’t surgeons in the strictest sense, but general practitioners, dermatologists, even internal medicine specialists and endocrinologists specializing in cosmetic surgery. This interdisciplinary cross-section is essential to the advancement of our methods and hence in the patient’s best interests!
We owe this interdisciplinary cross-section to the gentle methods of New Cosmetic Surgery: breast augmentation with stem cells, Hormonal Regeneration® with bioidentical hormones, as well as minimally invasive interventions such as microcannular liposuction. In many cases the latter are able to replace invasive reconstructive interventions with scalpels and general anesthesia.
What do you think? We invite you to share your thoughts on this with us by writing a commentary on this blog entry!
DDr. Heinrich, MD