ASPS Delegation Visits China as People to People Ambassadors
A delegation of thirty five plastic surgeons under the auspices of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons visited China in June as part of the People to People Ambassador Program. The itinerary included visits to hospitals, clinics, meetings with their Chinese peers and just generally, an opportunity to learn how plastic surgery has progressed in China and how it is being used.
In the most modern facilities, the delegation observed a great deal of reconstructive surgery and found that the rapidly modernizing (and westernizing) consumer economy is leading to a growing market for cosmetic surgery. One of the delegation’s leaders, Dr. Bruce Cunningham, noted their surprise at the degree to which cosmetic plastic surgery is integrated into the practice of plastic surgery as a whole.
On one visit to the Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army in Beijing, the delegation held a discussion with the resident surgeons on burn treatment, flaps and other reconstructive surgery issues. Following the discussion, they were shown the cosmetic surgery clinic that is operated there in the hospital as well.
Breast augmentation, eyelid surgery (to “westernize” the look of the eyes) and rhinoplasty to create a prominent bridge of the nose are common choices for cosmetic surgery in China today. One cosmetic surgery procedure that is little known in the west but sought after by Chinese women is mandibular augmentation. This involves removing a portion of the jaw and resculpting it to meet a particularly Chinese standard of beauty.
Facilities varied from the highest and most modern technology found in urban hospitals, to fairly rudimentary equipment and a limited range of procedures in small clinics. But the relevant point to many in the ASPS delegation is that those clinics are up and operating, adding momentum to the development of cosmetic surgery in the country.
One of the more telling observations was that many cosmetic surgery patients were kept hospitalized for several days – a practice that is virtually unknown in the West. One delegation member mentioned a breast augmentation patient they met in Shanghai that was scheduled for several days’ recovery as an inpatient. He noted that part of the reasoning for hospitalization is that the cost for inpatient care is a miniscule fraction of what is found in the United States, and that it makes more sense to keep a patient nearby and under professional observation than turning that patient loose in a city of twenty million people.
Dr. Linda Phillips noted that Chinese skills in microsurgery are renowned and the demonstrations they saw were remarkable – using one millimeter blood vessels to improve blood supply to reconstructive surgical procedures. While visiting the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the delegation met graduates of an international scholarship exchange program who had received training in the United States and were using their training to provide additional techniques to peers.
She described the thirst among Chinese surgeons and medical students for western training as demonstrative of the need for expanded exchange programs. Chinese doctors who have been to the U.S. for plastic surgery training maintain their contacts and collectively foster further relations between the two countries.
