Page 3 - FACETHETICS

From the President

Dear friends ,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the 4th edition of Facethetics held in this
glamorous city of Mumbai.

I am happy to note the Facethetics has taken a great leap from its inception and kudos to
AFAASI for providing an excellent platform for an inter-disciplinary approach to facial
aesthetics. Its indeed a privilege to be the President of this unique association.

The first newsletter is being released at this conference under the able leadership of our
dynamic secretary and is another feather in the cap of the association. I congratulate all those involved in this.

Best wishes for a successful conference. Enjoy and relish what the conference has to offer.

From the Secretary

“We are the change we have been waiting for.” Barak Obama

Interacting with colleagues of other specialties during my career as a maxillofacial
surgeon, I was surprised by the undercurrent of distrust that existed between specialties
(and still does). I tried to analyze the reason for the same beyond simple practice
economics, personal opinions and bias for these turf wars. I came to a conclusion that
doctors tend only to see the failure of a fellow practitioner. Why would any doctor refer a
patient successfully treated? On similar lines, why would a cured patient seek a second
opinion? This offers a skewed opinion of the other practitioner/specialist to the second
doctor. People neither take time to arrive at a balanced judgement nor do they have time or means to.

What struck me as odd was that this situation existed among highly intelligent, educated sections of the population.
Five years ago, it occurred to me that the answer was rather simplistic – build a platform to bring all of the relevant
specialties together. One specialty crying out for such attention was cosmetic surgery and medicine with all its many
fathers! With rather naïve enthusiasm I embarked on a project to bring together the specialties of Plastic and
Maxillofacial surgeries, Dermatology, and any other specialties that may deem itself to fit the bill. The single overriding
requirement would be appropriate and intensive training to ensure quality of care. My good friend Dr. Sacchidanand
endorsed my thoughts and thus was born the AFAASI and as a direct consequence, FACETHETHICS.

I used the term naïve with good reason. As I started putting together the first conference, I saw resistance - for reasons
discussed above. I again encountered the nemesis of academic interaction- distrust. This is when the efforts of my good
friends Sacchidanand and Apratim were vital in keeping the momentum going. The first two conferences were held in
Bangalore with encouraging if inquisitive response. When it moved to Mumbai last year, there were frequent fliers and
workshops were running full. We had arrived. We now offered a forum to discussed cosmetic surgery and medicine like
it should be - transcending the borders of degrees and specialties.

The only logical thing yet undone was a publication under the same banner discussing the changing dynamic of
cosmetic practice. While there are multiple such efforts, none of them focus on the theme of cosmetology
incorporating the wide range of specialties and industry thoughts as we have. This newsletter also tries to bring
together the thoughts of treating physicians and providers of the hardware - the cosmeceutical industry.

In addition to short pointed articles across specialties, we have tried to incorporate advances, contemporary thought
and medical philosophy with the latest in medical engineering. Wishing you a very fruitful read, I present to you our
quarterly newsletter- FACETHETICS.

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