Specialty’s worldwide leaders gather for summit in Toronto
World leaders in plastic surgery gathered Oct. 1 in Toronto during Plastic Surgery 2010 for the inaugural Global Leadership Summit, an unprecedented event in which international plastic surgeons renewed friendships and forged personal and professional relationships for the purpose of finding solutions to barriers to the practice of safe and effective plastic surgery across the globe. The Global Leadership Summit also allowed for a discussion of issues affecting the specialty on an international level.
2010 ASPS President Michael McGuire, MD, and outgoing International Committee Chair Richard D’Amico, MD, led the discussion, which included 15 plastic surgeons representing 11 countries – several of whom also made presentations (see presentation list below).
Dr. McGuire noted that the initiative was just one part of “a new vision… that amounts to a much more organized, comprehensive and effective method” of moving the specialty forward on a worldwide level.
“We’ve all benefited from international plastic surgery relations,” Dr. McGuire told the assembly. “When regarding our shared milieu, we should consider the world to be flat.”
The plastic surgeons – either current or past presidents of their respective national societies – who presented information were:
- Peter Callan, MD, and Howard Webster, MD, Australia
- Stan Monstrey, MD, Belgium
- Nelson Piccolo, MD, and Osvaldo Saidanha, MD, Brazil
- Claude LeLouarn, MD, and Daniel Marchac, MD, France
- Eric Freelander, MD, Great Britain
- Howard Klein, MD, New Zealand
- Suk Wha Kim, MD, South Korea
- Jan Pöell, MD, Switzerland (presentation not available)
Brief presentations by each of the speakers provided introductions to their respective national organizations while outlining issues they face at home.
Those exchanges were an important part of the summit’s charge, Dr. D’Amico noted. “I’ve learned that we are one another’s allies” he said. “Our opposition is focused upon those with less training, skills, oversight and ethics, who want to subvert what we do. It’s important that we stand together.”
The issues touched upon by the international speakers included untrained “practitioners,” training requirements, medical liability, medical tourism, media confusion, advertising, ethics and regulation – demonstrating that the issues and challenges facing the specialty cross borders and oceans.
“From this summit, what do we expect?” Dr. Saidanha asked attendees. “A relationship among all societies, information exchanges and reciprocity – these start now. We pledge to offer our best efforts.”
Advertisement
