Dr. SundaramIn an editorial published April 2014 in the Journal of Drugs and Dermatology, Hema Sundaram, M.D., encourages U.S. cosmetic surgeons to travel abroad for scientific meetings. She writes about how current clinical practice in Europe is the “shape of things to come” in the U.S. The advent of hyaluronic acid fillers is one example. In Europe, physicians were using HA fillers in 1996, about seven years before HA fillers were approved in the U.S.
“International dialogue in cosmetic surgery is important for a number of reasons,” says the Washington, D.C., area dermatologist. “First, approvals of many cosmetic surgery devices come quicker in Europe and elsewhere in the world. This is especially true for injectable fillers.”
Understanding these advances allows U.S. physicians to become better injectors, by refining their facial analysis skills and increasing the sophistication of their treatment planning and implementation, she says.
“… the international dialogue is a two-way process. American cosmetic surgeons also make significant contributions when they participate in international meetings. This is through our focus on safety, since the U.S. FDA has rigorous safety standards. And … our expertise in problem solving with the aesthetic toolbox we have available to us,” Dr. Sundaram says.
The Face2Face Congress and International Master Course on Aging Science (IMCAS) are among the organizations that hold important international meetings and are good sources of scientific information for cosmetic surgeons worldwide, according to Dr. Sundaram.
Taking part in global topics and discussions at these meetings has far-reaching benefits for U.S. physicians who attend — even if the discussions revolve around fillers and more which are not yet approved in the states, according to Dr. Sundaram.
“Many eventually come to the U.S. A worldly view empowers us to develop the techniques to successfully combine new and existing fillers to achieve the best and safest results for our patients,” she says.
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Upcoming International Meetings
NEXT: IMCAS Academy
IMCAS Academy
IMCAS recently launched the IMCAS Academy, which provides online learning and interaction among cosmetic surgery specialists, including dermatologists and plastic surgeons, according to Dr. Sundaram, who is on the scientific board for the IMCAS Academy and a theme editor for Injectables. The IMCAS Academy includes an international panel of experts and offers courses and discussions on broad range of topics from practice management issues (including social media best practices) to clinical best practices. One recent topic, for example, is vulvovaginal repair.
The Global Aesthetic Consensus Group is an advisory group of leading dermatologists and plastic surgeons from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia, according to Dr. Sundaram. The group’s first three publications are consensus papers on botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid fillers. Dr. Sundaram is the group’s North American chair.
“These consensus papers were independently developed by the physician faculty, with the support of an educational grant from Allergan…,” she says. “The first Global Aesthetics Consensus paper, on botulinum toxin, was recently published in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (PRS).”
The second is in press for PRS (Sundaram H, Liew S, Signorini M, et al. Global Aesthetics Consensus Group: Hyaluronic Acid Fillers and Botulinum Toxin Type A: Recommendations for Combined Treatment and Optimizing Outcomes in Diverse Patient Populations), and the third, she says, will appear in the June 2016 issue of PRS (Signorini M, Liew S, Sundaram H, et al. Global Aesthetics Consensus Group: Avoidance and Management of Complications from Hyaluronic Acid Fillers: Evidence and Opinion-Based Review and Consensus Recommendations).
NEXT: Can’t Travel? Read This
Can’t Travel? Read This
One of the next best things to traveling abroad is reading about international research efforts. Dr. Sundaram says that some of the highest impact peer-reviewed journals in core aesthetics are published in the U.S., but are distributed and read throughout the world.
“The journals Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (PRS), Dermatologic Surgery and the Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ) have excellent articles from both U.S. and international authors,” she says. “I would recommend them and other core aesthetic specialty journals to cosmetic surgeons who are striving to stay up to date with the latest advances.”
NEXT: Upcoming International Meetings
Upcoming International Meetings
These are the meetings Dr. Sundaram recommends:
June 2 through 5, 2016, the Philippines Academy of Dermatologic Surgery Foundation (PADSFI) presents Dermatologic Surgery: Basic and Evolving Trends, which includes three meetings in the Philippines.
“This is a comprehensive conference that covers all aspects of minimally invasive cosmetic surgery and also advanced dermatologic surgery,” Dr. Sundaram says.
For more, go to: http://www.padsfi.org/.
London, England is the host city for the June 16 through 19, 2016, Facial Aesthetic Conference and Exhibition (FACE) Conference.
Among the topics at this conference, according to Dr. Sundaram: fillers, body contouring with radiofrequency, new techniques for botulinum toxin, lasers and light energy devices for skin rejuvenation, hair restoration and practice management.
For more, go to: www.faceconference.com.
July 29 through 31, in Taipei, Taiwan, the International Master Course in Aging Science (IMCAS) will hold its Asia Congress.
“The international faculty, from throughout Asia and also Europe, Australia and North America, will present a full educational curriculum of cutting edge concepts to treat Asian patients,” says Dr. Sundaram, who is on the IMCAS I'm on the scientific committee.
For more, go to: www.imcas.com.
The FACE2FACE Congress will be held September 9 and 10, 2016, in Cannes, France.
“Like IMCAS, this conference has high level content on injectables. The faculty is again very international and will provide both European and global perspectives on injectables, regenerative medicine, lasers, body contouring and other current topics,” says Dr. Sundaram, who is scientific director of the Face2Face Congress and served as congress president in 2013.”
For more, go to: http://www.face2facecongress.com/en/.
