On the occasion of ASAPS' 36th annual meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia

Abstract

It is indisputable that the founding of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) in 1967 was the pivotal event in the shaping of aesthetic surgery education as we know it today. Here was a group of well-trained and fully qualified plastic surgeons joining to form an organization devoted to the sole purpose of furthering aesthetic surgery knowledge and education, in defiance of the prevailing prejudice of organized plastic surgery against this subspecialty. ASAPS spearheaded the rapid development of aesthetic surgery as a bona fide specialty by promoting a national meeting devoted exclusively to aesthetic procedures, educational courses, regional symposia, a journal devoted exclusively to aesthetic surgery, and visiting professorships to further enhance residency training in aesthetic surgery. More recently, the formation of the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) has helped ensure directed research in aesthetic surgery. All of these activities have greatly facilitated the training of the young plastic surgeon in the techniques of aesthetic surgery and helped remove the veil of secrecy that existed in the pre-ASAPS era. During the years preceding the founding of ASAPS, obtaining the necessary knowledge and training leading to expertise in aesthetic surgery was difficult and required considerable effort, persistence, and ingenuity on the part of the young surgeon who wished to hone his or her skills in this fascinating and challenging area of plastic surgery. Back then, residency training in specialized fields of surgery (and, indeed, in specialized fields … Reprint requests: Thomas D. Rees, MD, 1236 Bishops Lodge Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87501; e-mail: ncision{at}comcast.net.