Qualification of the doctor: who should perform plastic surgery?

Much depends on the qualifications that surgeons should receive before they acquire the right to call themselves "plastic surgeons" and perform operations defined as "plastic surgery". Who should these doctors be? Should they all have a certain specialty or be readers of a certain college or community? Does the surgeon have special qualities and qualifications if he has been trained in a particular program or certified by a special commission? Of course, a patient who is looking for a plastic surgeon expects that the surgeon will be well trained in the required operation and will be able to help with possible complications.

Some surgeons disregard the training, education and professional skills of colleagues. Is it moral? On the one hand, if the surgeon knows that another doctor is not trained to perform certain operations and he has seen serious complications after this doctor's performance of such operations, is his moral duty to warn about it? On the other hand, there are such surgeons who imagine themselves to be a knight in armor on a white horse whose mission is to save society from surgeons getting into other people's affairs. However, some of these "knights" are seen in defending their own financial interests without any altruistic considerations.

Today, behind the shoulders of a plastic surgeon are giants who have come out of general surgery, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, maxillofacial surgery and dermatology - so he should be the least to complain about territorial disputes.

Another topic is the development and use of new surgical procedures and devices. Since no surgeon is born with the skills of performing surgical interventions, everyone needs to be taught. Some more, others less. For example, a surgeon can get acquainted with another operation, participating in a medical conference or carefully reading a specialized journal. Is it ethical to introduce a new and possibly not widely tested operation into one's own practice? And is it correct to present yourself as the "best surgeon" in order to practice the operation, the improvement from which is not obvious?

Also, in the continuation of the topic of training and professionalism, the question arises, and whether each surgeon can become an "expert" in any operation related to his specialty? The standards of medical care do not say that each operation should be "perfect" and that a favorable outcome is guaranteed. But society expects from its doctors, including surgeons, a certain level of competence. Here the subject of morality is the competence of the surgeon.

Another question that we must ask is whether doctors have the right to do operations in their office or office's operating room if they are unable to get the same operations in a licensed surgical clinic or hospital under strict expert control ? Do I need to tell potential patients that their surgeon does not have permission to perform certain interventions in a licensed medical center? It can also be argued that, due to imperfections in the permitting system, which is subject to the influence of local politics and sometimes personal interests of competing surgeons, some specialists can not obtain permission to work in certain institutions from their management. Can it be argued that the lack of equality of recommendation puts patients at excess risk.

But who will deny that the main goal of our profession can be the subject of competition. Do not all patients deserve a competent doctor, and, in particular, a competent plastic surgeon. It seems that the rules, regulations and instructions for the improvement of competition could benefit.

It was noted that "many surgeons have an innate or acquired tendency to exaggerate the number of operations performed by them and to underestimate the failures." Someone might call it a lie, more lenient will say that this is a manifestation of exuberant optimism. "

So our final prayer may be: "Lord, please give me a surgeon who knows what he is doing."

[1], [2], [3]