It's articles, or in this case "press releases" like this one, that really frustrate me.I think it starts out with noble intentions - an attempt to educate people about how to choose the cosmetic surgeon that is best for them. But as you keep reading, it turns into this rather odd bashing of plastic surgeons. Clearly, this press release was written by someone who is not a fan - or maybe even someone actively trying to discredit the field of plastic surgery.
Allow me to refute a few quotes, taken directly from the "press release":
"Unlike cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery focuses on repairing and reconstructing abnormal structures of the body caused by birth defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, infection, tumors or disease."
Absolutely - in my six years of plastic surgical training, I worked intensively to correct and restore function where it was absent or abnormal. That was one aspect of plastic surgery: the reconstructive focus.
The press release conveniently omits the other focuses of plastic surgery: aesthetics. No matter what type of surgery we perform, no matter which part of the body is involved, we have a omnipresent concern guiding every move. How do I help my patient, and how do I do it in the most aesthetic way possible?
Everything we do as plastic surgeons - whether it is as simple as removing a tiny little skin tag to an enormous undertaking like a complicated cancer reconstruction, or even the traditional operations you think of when someone says "cosmetic surgery" (like facelifts and breast augmentation) - we have been trained to think several steps ahead, to consider all the possibilities for skin and scars and soft tissue and healing, to create a surgical plan with our patients, and to make it happen in the way that we feel will result in the best outcome for our patients.
Even outside of the dedicated time spent learning about "pure" cosmetic surgery, "cosmetic" training is thus interspersed throughout our plastic surgery residency. We learn how to do rhinoplasties when patients come in because they have trouble breathing through their noses; we learn about breast lifts, reductions, and augmentations when breast cancer survivors have procedures on the other breast for symmetry; we refine techniques used for tummy tucks when trauma victims need complex microsurgical tissue transplants to save their legs. So to say that plastic surgery is very "unlike cosmetic surgery" is a very unfair assessment.
"Residency programs in dermatology, general surgery, obstetrics, and gynecology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and plastic surgery do not include training on every cosmetic procedure."
At face value, that statement is true. Not every physician gets training on every little thing that's out there in the world of cosmetic surgery. That is why there are fellowships, courses, and continuing medical education.
But if you look carefully at each of those specialties (not even all of those fields train surgeons), all of them have relatively narrow backgrounds compared to the breadth and depth of training achieved in plastic surgery. Dermatologists specialize in skin diseases, general surgeons in most of the thorax and abdominal contents, OB/GYNs in the female reproductive organs, OMFs in problems related to the face/teeth, opthalmologists in eye-related issues, and ENTs in ear, nose, and throat-related things.
Now I wouldn't raise an eyebrow if someone were to consult an opthalmologist (especially someone with further oculoplastic training) for a eyelid lift or blepharoplasty instead of a plastic surgeon. But if your friendly local dentist is now offering a special on breast implants? That I'm not so comfortable with.
The America public is pretty smart. They're far more educated that ever before, with access to more information (for better or worse, as in the case of this particular press release) and a highly attuned bullsh*t-o-meter. It takes work, but I have faith in you out there - confidence that you will take the time and sense to sift through the staticky messages of cyberspace.
(photo from iStockphoto)
