It has been wonderful to be part of the Regensburg course in Facial Plastic Surgery over the years. Each year it becomes even better. In addition to the energy and ability of Holger Gassner, the support of the entire faculty—including residents and fellows—is impressive. It is difficult to believe that only a few years ago, Holger was a fellow with us at the Larrabee Center, and now he has launched one of the most successful facial plastic surgery centers in Europe. Our book, The Art and Craft of Facial Rejuvenation was well received and sold out early in the meeting.
As always, I like to learn as much as I teach at these meetings. One highlight for me was Janice Pastorek’s discussion of PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma). She showed some amazing results of using the patient’s own platelet rich plasma in combination with IPL (intense pulsed light) to rejuvenate the skin. I also enjoyed a presentation by Grant Hamilton from the Mayo Clinic on the importance of imaging for patient communication. He uses Photoshop and really integrates his imaging into all phases of his rhinoplasty practice. He shared a few Photoshop shortcuts which I will work into our practices in Seattle and London. I also learned some new facial reanimation techniques from Kofi Boahene. Kofi is a facial plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins with a diverse practice who is also planning a surgical clinic in his native Ghana with the help of the Johns Hopkins Business School.
It was good, as always, to work with and learn from my friends and colleagues from around the world. Peter Hilger, Norm Pastorek, Jon Sykes, Minas Constantinides, Pietro Palma, Miriam Boenisch, Fazil Apaydin, Santdeep Paun, and the wonderful German faculty, who are all talented surgeons and professors. A special moment was an after-dinner talk by Claus Walter, MD (featured in the top photo for this post). Claus is a true pioneer in facial plastic surgery and, at 86 years old, is still innovating. He provided me an article on a new composite graft from behind the ear that contains both bone and cartilage. He is truly amazing.
I am always sorry to leave my family and practice to travel for these meetings, but, in the end, I not only come home excited with new ideas, but also feel confident that our center continues to work at the cutting edge of plastic surgery.
And—it is good to be missed!!
