American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons Society Leadership Meeting

I had the opportunity to participate in the recent 70th Congress of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (KSPRS) as a guest and President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Seoul in November 2012. The purpose of the meeting was to bring common themes and ideas together between both societies. A specific leadership meeting occurred on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the VIP Room, COEX Convention Center (Fig. 1). Several common ideas and thoughts were generated from this meeting. As in the United States, in Korea there has been concern about general surgeons wanting to perform breast reconstruction. ASPS has been instrumental in focusing on this issue and has found that at least 70% of women who undergo surgery in the United States are not presented with their breast reconstruction options. The ASPS launched Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) day in the United States on October 17, 2012. This will be an annual event the third Wednesday in October. At the inaugural BRA day in the United States, ASPS organized several events to educate the public on the need for plastic surgery consultation as part of the cancer recovery process. In several states, laws are in place to require patients to be referred to plastic surgeons for breast reconstruction. In many states ASPS has helped to pass legislation that patients must see a plastic surgeon as part of their overall care. ASPS has also been working with the federal government to implement federal legislation to require plastic surgeons to be involved in breast reconstruction surgery for cancer patients. This topic is important to both ASPS and the KSPRS and both societies can benefit by sharing information and working together on this issue. The ASPS will share recommendations and best practices with the KSPRS on this issue. Cosmetic surgery remains strong in Korea with much medical tourism from China. In the United States the amount of cosmetic surgery has declined because of the economic situation, but in Korea this does not appear to be the case. There are approximately 2,000 plastic surgeons in Korea; which is not enough to cover the Chinese demand. ASPS members can learn more about the opportunities for Asian aesthetic cosmetic surgery from members of the KSPRS. The official scientific journal of the KSPRS is Archives of Plastic Surgery (APS). It is an open access journal and has been exclusively published in English …