It is indeed amazing to
look at the events our American colleagues manage to organise year after
year. Around 2000 plastic surgeons meet, always at different locations, to
exchange their experience in aesthetic surgery. Only members of the ASAPS
are invited, and those invited by members of the ASAPS.
Hundreds of scientific
talks, panel discussions with experts, breakfast- and lunch symposiums take
place at this giant one-week
congress. Several "doublettes" are included in the programme where two
luminaries are supposed to "quarrel" over their methods.
Guest speakers are treated
with critical reserve. Against a world-wide trend to presenting only the
best results, the classic examples, longer video sequences with fewer
examples are becoming increasingly popular. Some show film documentaries of
an entire surgery with the author commenting from beginning to end.
Participants are allowed to interrupt for details.
The audience gets to see
the "raw meat" and profits enormously from a detailed analysis of various
surgery methods. They are not allowed to take pictures or videotape a
presentation. Yet DVDs and videotapes of all sessions will be available
afterwards.
The various outcomes and
success stories are presented during a festive business luncheon. Industry
and media representatives who have rendered great service to our field will
be honoured. The simultaneous industry exhibition and the range of books on
offer is overwhelming. A gala dinner, wild dancing and crazy shows are, of
course, included in the programme.
Each meeting lasts one
week. As one of only 83 non-American members, I was able to participate at
the last five meetings: Orlando, New York, Las Vegas, Boston, Vancouver. To
be honest, I am not sure about how much I actually profited from those
meeting, thus how much my patients profited. The ASAPS sets the tone.
ASAPS
meeting in Vancouver with 4 on the photograph: A. Fuente Del Campo (Mexico),
T. Biggs (USA, current president of ISAPS ), R.Saltz (USA), J. C. Sampaio
Góes (Brasil - designated president of ISAPS)
