I was honoured to be invited to speak at the Inaugural International Meeting of the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in early November. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – both for what I learnt, and for how hospitable the Spanish Plastic Surgeons were.
It is always interesting to share ideas and thoughts, and to see what plastic surgeons agree on and disagree on – there is never any shortage of robust (but polite and friendly) argument about certain topics. These include breast and facial plastic surgery, through to nose reshaping and even philosophies on practice management.
I had an opportunity to meet some of my plastic surgery heroes, such as Mark Codner, from Atlanta in the US, whose teachings and works in the past really helped me to understand the anatomy and techniques for lower eyelid lifts. Richard Bensimon from Portland, US, showed how effective deeper facial peels can be at improving fine lines, wrinkles and pigment spots with some amazing results (more of this to come in my practice, I am sure) and Mario Pelle-Ceravolo from Rome was inspirational in his lateral thinking in plastic surgery as well as his impressive surgical techniques and results. I particularly liked his concepts in neck lifting and look forward to reading his paper that will be published in February.
Baris Cakir from Istanbul is a master nose-reshaping surgeon and Douglas Steinbrech from New York (and Beverley Hills) opened my eyes about what can be done for men. It was also good to see Olivier Gerbault again, from Paris, who was in London for our BAAPS meeting too and Naresh Joshi from London, who has a great philosophy on eyelid surgery.
An obligatory selfie! With Francisco Bravo (Spain), Baris Cakir (Turkey) & Doug Steinbrech (USA)
Needless to say, the Spanish were warm and hospitable, and we ate well, enjoying Spanish food and wine after the concentration of each day’s lectures, panel discussions and video discussions.
After 3-days of intense lectures, I have come back to the UK with my head buzzing full of ideas and excitement. I look forward to seeing how I might introduce some of the concepts I have learnt about into my practice, as I could really see the benefits that they will give my patients.
At the faculty dinner with fantastic Spanish cuisine!