The International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies

Abstract

Archives of Facial Plastic SurgeryVol. 10, No. 6 Free AccessThe International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery SocietiesPromoting Excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery Around the WorldRoxana CoboRoxana CoboCorrespondence: Dr Cobo, Centro Médico Imbanaco, Carrera 38A, No. A-100 consultario 231, Cali, Colombia (E-mail Address: rcobo@imbanaco.com.co)Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:3 Nov 2008https://doi.org/10.1001/archfaci.10.6.429AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Throughout the ages, people have always yearned to be attractive. The development of modern facial plastic surgery began over 100 years ago and was greatly advanced during World War I owing to the need to reconstruct the injuries inflicted on many of the soldiers who survived during this period. Otolaryngology worldwide includes facial plastic surgery within its training programs, and in many countries it has also become an important subspecialty.Facial plastic surgery is defined as the surgical specialty that focuses on treatment of all defects of the face and neck: congenital, traumatic, neoplasm related, or results of the aging process.1 The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) was founded in 1964, and in 1968 the first official fellowship program began. These training programs were completely standardized in 1988. Certification for the specialty began in 1986 when the American Board of Facial Plastic and Recontructive Surgery (ABFPRS) was founded.2 Today, more than 900 surgeons can say they have completed certification requirements in this growing specialty.Facial plastic surgery societies exist in many countries and areas around the globe, and its members are constantly seeking opportunities for attending meetings and continuing their education in the different programs within United States and other countries worldwide. With this in mind, when Wayne F. Larrabee, MD, was elected president of the AAFPRS, in 1995 in New Orleans, Louisiana, he first presented the idea of creating a federation of facial plastic surgery societies that would group the different societies that existed around the world. He understood the need for professional societies to become more globalized, and medicine was not an exception. The task was not easy; it meant that this federation, together with the leadership of the AAFPRS, would represent the different societies that already existed, and they would work together “to promote and support the growth of facial plastic surgery around the world.”This task was given to Ted A. Cook, MD, who, with great endeavor and after many discussions with the AAFPRS and the leaders of the different facial plastic surgery societies worldwide in 1997, was able to formally create the International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies (IFFPSS) (Figure 1). The initial country members were the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, the Colombian Society of Facial Plastic Surgery and Rhinology, the Mexican Society of Rhinology and Facial Surgery, the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, the Australasian Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, and the Canadian Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The Brazilian Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery later joined this group, and in 2007 the Taiwan Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery was added.Figure 1. Initial group of leaders that formed the International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies. From left to right: Fernando Pedroza, MD, Dean Southwick, MD, Peter A. Adamson, MD, FRCSC, Wayne F. Larrabee Jr, MD, Enrique Azuara, MD, Ted A. Cook, MD, Jaime Fandiño I., MD, Tony R. Bull, MD, FRCS, Martyn Mendelsohn, MB, BS, FRACS, and Michael P. Stearns, FRCS.Another objective presented by Dr Larrabee when he became president of the AAFPRS in 1995 was the creation of a journal that would be the official journal of the IFFPSS and the AAFPRS. Dr Larrabee is the editor of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, part of the JAMA and Archives family of journals, with a bimonthly publication. This journal quickly has become the space where surgeons from all over the world can publish their work in the area of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery.The goals of the IFFPSS are to encourage, promote, and support the growth of facial plastic surgery, keeping high standards of quality and excellence. This is accomplished through different educational activities that include congresses, courses, observational fellowships, and speaker exchange programs. Courses and congresses organized by different countries are stimulated and supported with speakers coming from IFFPSS countries who become part of the faculty in these academic programs.Every 2 years, the AAFPRS organizes its International Symposium, where many speakers from the IFFPSS have participated as part of the faculty. In the alternating 2 years, the IFFPSS organizes its International Congress in a country other than the United States.These congresses are very popular and have quickly become the meeting point for many facial plastic surgeons from all over the world. The first International Congress was held in Cancún, Mexico, in 2000 and was a huge success. New York, New York, with its theaters and restaurants, was the meeting place in 2002. In 2004, London, England, had its turn, and the congress was held at the impressive Royal College of Surgeons. Las Vegas, Nevada, with its fabulous hotels, shows, and restaurants, was the meeting place in 2006.In March 2008, the congress went back to Latin America to the magical colonial city of Cartagena, Colombia. The academic program was a huge success. There were 90 speakers from countries from all over the world, and translation from Spanish to English and English to Spanish was provided in all of the sessions. This gave all participants and speakers the opportunity of exchanging knowledge and ideas without any language barriers.All of these academic encounters that are complemented with active social programs create a space where people with an interest in facial plastic surgery can interact, share information, establish contacts, and learn. It has also served the purpose of helping people from countries where facial plastic surgery is not an established specialty to acquire knowledge and strengthen the growing groups who are practicing in this surgical area.The members of the IFFPSS are the different countries that have their own facial plastic surgery societies. Individuals cannot be members of the IFFPSS. The reason for this is simple. Groups that are interested in facial plastic surgery are urged to organize themselves within a society where they can work as a group in the development of their specialty within their respective country. In this way, educational goals can be accomplished hopefully striving for quality.The IFFPSS has an executive board comprised of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and delegates from each country member. Projects are proposed and discussed, policies established, and decisions made, taking into account the opinions of all the countries who participate in this growing federation (Figure 2). The members of the current executive board of the IFFPSS (2006-2008) are as follows: president, Gilbert Nolst-Trenité, MD, PhD, European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery; past-president, Jaime Fandiño I., MD, Mexican Society of Rhinology and Facial Surgery; vice president, Roxana Cobo, MD, Colombian Society of Facial Plastic Surgery and Rhinology; secretary, Wayne F. Larrabee Jr, MD, American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery; and treasurer, Jose Juan Montes B., MD, Mexican Society of Rhinology and Facial Surgery.Figure 2. Presidents of the International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies. A, Tony R. Bull, MD, FRCS, 1998-2000. B, Fernando Pedroza, MD, 2000-2002. C, Ted A. Cook, MD, 2002-2004. D, Jaime Fandiño I., MD, 2004-2006. E, Gilbert Nolst-Trenité, MD, PhD, 2006-2008.CREDENTIALING AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM OF THE IFFPSSOne of the major points of discussion within the IFFPSS board meetings was the standardization of knowledge within the different countries that were members of the federation. Many of the countries did not have a formal training program in facial plastic surgery, and most of their leaders had either performed observational fellowships abroad of varying lengths of time or had been taught by local surgeons with expertise in the area of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. In addition, it was clear that the knowledge acquired and the areas of expertise were not the same in all of the countries involved. Rhinoplasty is still the mainstay of practice for most facial plastic surgeons outside the United States and Canada, although there is an increasing number of physicians who are starting to perform other facial plastic surgery procedures on a routine basis.With this in mind, Drs Nolst-Trenité and Cook and I began to develop a plan that could help standardize knowledge in facial plastic surgery worldwide. The certification and credentials committee of the IFFPSS was created, and surveys were sent to each country's representatives of the IFFPSS to evaluate the need for creating a unified international certification program.After numerous, very long discussions and negotiations, not only within the board of the IFFPSS but also with the AAFPRS and the ABFPRS, the IFFPSS Unified International Certification Program was finally made official in 2004.The following criteria were established by the IFFPSS for international certification:The ABFPRS certification examination would be the examination used by the IFFPSS for its international certification program. The requirements for IFFPSS certification would also mirror the same eligibility and pass/fail requirements established by the ABFPRS.The society of each country participating in the IFFPSS Unified International Certification Program had to establish its own credentials committee. Each committee would then have to review its applicants' credentials and determine if that applicant complied with all the criteria set by the IFFPSS for examination eligibility.If all criteria were met (eligibility criteria and having passed the board examination), the candidates would then receive notification from the IFFPSS and their respective facial plastic surgery society that they had completed all components of the IFFPSS program and had achieved Unified International Certification in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.This international certification program is designed to establish worldwide standards for knowledge and surgical expertise in facial plastic surgery. It is not a short-term process. People from different countries and backgrounds who have completed the same IFFPSS certification program will know that they have followed standardized criteria and that the knowledge and surgical expertise evaluated was the same, no matter where they came from. This will also help patients to identify surgeons who have completed certification requirements and know that their physician has met standards of quality set by responsible educational organizations.The impact of the Unified International Certification program has been positive. One of the points stressed by the IFFPSS board of directors when we started the international certification program was that it was imperative for the leaders of the different countries to complete the international certification process and sit for the examination. Most of these international pioneers have completed the whole certification process successfully, which, in turn, has helped encourage facial plastic surgeons from their respective countries to also complete the international certification program. So far, 40 facial plastic surgeons have completed all the requirements for the Unified International Certification program. This is a very respectable number for a program that was officially organized only 4 years ago. Among the 56 international candidates who have completed the IFFPSS certification process, 40 completed the process (71%) and 16 did not (29%).THE FUTUREPromoting education in the area of facial plastic surgery is the main goal of the IFFPSS. There is a need to develop strategies in which courses that are not very expensive can be set up in different countries depending on what specific areas of training are required.Observational fellowships already exist for many people traveling to the United States. Unfortunately, the opportunities are not the same for everybody because many people lack the necessary contacts or the economic means. These could be set up more efficiently through the IFFPSS. In addition, visits could also be set up in countries outside the United States that have formal training programs in the area of facial plastic surgery. In this way, there would be a massive promotion of this surgical specialty around the world.The future for the IFFPSS is a challenge because it has quickly become a reference point for groups of people from countries outside the United States who have an interest in facial plastic surgery. The responsibility is big. It means creating mechanisms that can open doors to acquire knowledge in a responsible and ethical fashion. Sharing knowledge with others will help the specialty grow and will give those who benefited from this the opportunity of imparting knowledge to others who would never have reached us otherwise. It is about building bridges and helping others cross to the other side. That is the future.Financial Disclosure: None reported.REFERENCESAmerican Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery Web site.. http://www.aafprs.org/. Accessed August 2008 Google ScholarHill S, Simons RL. Here to Stay: A Brief History of the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Celebration of Its Twentieth Anniversary.. New York, NY: Thieme; 2006 Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 10Issue 6Nov 2008 InformationCopyright 2008 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use.To cite this article:Roxana Cobo.The International Federation of Facial Plastic Surgery Societies.Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.Nov 2008.429-431.http://doi.org/10.1001/archfaci.10.6.429Published in Volume: 10 Issue 6: November 3, 2008PDF download