Page 36 - PlasticosVol4
P. 36

V O L  4  2019  I S S U E





                                                                                                                                  association secretary and write, educate           Co-operating with the association for
           Healthy competition is said to benefit the         A doctor studying for long time with                                and  spread awareness— together.  Since            its  financial  needs  and  contributions  to
           customers. But our ‘customers’ are not only        perseverance      obviously     is   ambitious                      an individual doctor finds it very expensive       non-academic endeavours like common
           unaware of differences between various             and would not like to work in shadow                                to market him/herself, the association             consent forms, having statistical data
           fields of medicine but are extremely price         of a colleague. We looked at colleagues                             can market our services and quality of             bases and guidelines is the new pledge
           -sensitive.  Half baked ‘google knowledge’         as competitors and, till a few years                                results to the general public. If there is just    required to be taken by the soldiers of this
           with new internet norms of quality in              back, before advent of social media, the                            one carry home message I would like to             endangered empire.  (This is already being
           terms of likes, comments and reviews               sense of fraternity fell short and cold.                            fervently convey, it’s this; plastic surgery       done by other associations in India and
           drives  even  the  educated,  tech  savvy          Plastic surgeons with different skill sets                          associations must educate society that we          plastic surgery associations abroad).
           patients  to  flashy  clinics  run  by  people     should work together as team to provide
           with  dubious  qualifications  but  glitzy         complete bouquet of plastic surgery                                                                                     The road ahead
           marketing campaigns. We rightly refused            services without feeling threatened about
           to call our patients clients---leave alone         personal reputation. This way they can
           customers. But the market is a composite           command better charges from referrals                                                                                  An important exercise should be in public
           made of different beauty professionals,            and manage any and everything, complex                                                                                 relations,  advocacy,  unity,  self-regulation.
           with their own ways of doing business and          or straightforward, with better vision and                                                                             We should highlight our charitable work
           influencing their customers. ‘’No needles,         skills, thus expanding the scope of the                                                                                as well.
           no pains, no surgery’’ is the tune played by       branch itself. In short let go the ego!! Let’s
           pied pipers selling dreams of divine beauty        not work behind iron curtains.                                                                                         The media, medical councils, judiciary
           without effort or pain. What chance                                                                                                                                       and above all, the layman has to be made
           does an honest surgeon have against                Disassociation                                                                                                         aware that plastic surgeons are the proper
           this hypnotic lure? Even needy patients                                                                                                                                   go-to experts in several procedures
           started falling prey to these magical              Our associations have far fewer resources                                                                              and treatments, in order to get the best
           remedies,     deferring     and     cancelling     than those of other branches. The activities                                                                           possible  results;  lists  of  qualified  bona
           surgery. The bags of money spent on                are strictly academic and members’                                                                                     fide plastic surgeons in each area should
           worthless     treatments      emptied     their    response to administrative efforts is cold-                                                                            be made available through association
           purses, leaving them hopeless.                     --they warm up only to conferences and                                                                                 platforms.

                                                              certificates!
           The iron grip                                                                                                                                                             What makes us PLASTIC SURGEONS is
                                                              We have too many sub-speciality societies                                                                              ----MINDSET, VERSATILITY IN APPROACH,
           Consumer protection law has converted              who keep on vying for conference                                                                                       INSATIABLE PURSUIT OF BETTERMENT
           medical practice into a market. It is              registration numbers. There is no central                                                                              AND  POTENTIAL  FOR  INNOVATION.  It  is
           far  more  lucrative  to  sue  a  qualified,       co-ordination.      Clashing      dates     and                     are the right specialists for the gamut of         not  an  organ  specific  but  a  SKILL  AND
           successful doctor rather than to go after a        overwhelming  numbers  of  conferences                              procedures we have perfected.                      INSIGHT SPECIFIC BRANCH.
           quack with a hope of juicy compensation.           are the factors putting a common delegate                                                                              A plastic surgeon is not a match maker
           Trapping and suing doctors has become              off.                                                                Protecting members from legal problems             offering ready-made keys for different
           a  business  with  profit  sharing  option                                                                             by issuing guidelines, common consent              locks. He/she has ability to manufacture a
           for some patients. And aesthetic plastic           The associations must be proactive in                               forms,    establishing     legal    cell   with    key from scratch.
           surgeons  are  the  most  vulnerable  lot,         advertorials and blogs to educate people                            experienced  colleagues  and  lawyers,             May  the  last emperor  reign  and  protect
           paying the highest premiums for the                to use the boon of plastic surgery to get                           working on group insurance, helping                the empire and benefit the patients and
           malpractice insurance.                             better  and  desired  results,  cut  down                           patients by including more              plastic    the society through quality, safety and
                                                              wound healing period (as in diabetic                                surgeries under insurance cover are some           integrity in approach.
           Partner or not?                                    foot  or  pressure  sores).  Everyone  of  us                       crucial roles the associations need to play.
                                                              should  respond  to  appeals  of  proactive

        36                                                                                                                                                                                                                            37
   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41