10 Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Predictions for 2005 from ASAPS

10 Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Predictions for 2005 from ASAPS

New York, NY (December 21, 2004) - The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the leading national organization of board-certified plastic surgeons who specialize in cosmetic surgery, offers its predictions for cosmetic surgery in 2005. Predictions are based on interviews with leading plastic surgeons around the country.

• National attention to issues of patient safety will result, in some states, in more stringent requirements for physician credentials to perform cosmetic surgery. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) will be among the leaders of this patient safety movement in 2005.
• Endoscopic (arthroscopic) facial rejuvenation procedures may become more popular. Suture suspension techniques, promising facial rejuvenation with minimal downtime, may also increase in popularity; however, many patients will opt for traditional facelifts or endoscopic procedures with more predictable and long-lasting results.
• Experimental techniques for non-invasive fat removal, as a future alternative to liposuction (lipoplasty) surgery, will be tested in clinical trials.
• The number of patients seeking plastic surgery for body contouring after dramatic weight loss will rise by at least 20 percent in 2005, reflecting growing public awareness of significant long-term health benefits of weight loss for the morbidly obese.
• Cosmetic surgery for racial and ethnic minorities in the United States will continue increasing, most likely exceeding 20 percent of the total procedures performed.
• Hyaluronic acid (Restylane, Hylaform) will surpass collagen as the most popular soft tissue filler for lines and wrinkles. Additional hyaluronic acid products developed specifically for facial volume enhancement and for improvement of depressed scars will be introduced.
• Fashion and beauty in 2005 will emphasize nostalgia and elegance as embodied by Hollywood icons Lauren Bacall and Grace Kelly, and modern stars such as Nicole Kidman. In cosmetic surgery, more patients will express a preference for classical facial features, and a growing number of women will opt for smaller-size breast implants.
• More plastic surgeons will offer lifestyle assessment and counseling to their cosmetic surgery patients. The focus will be on "wellness" basics, with support from nutritionists and weight management specialists.
• In 2005, a new generation of breast implant fillers and coatings; advanced lasers that rejuvenate the skin from the inside out; new products for scar management and prevention of keloids; and permanent injectable treatments for facial lines and wrinkles may be the biggest "buzz" in cosmetic plastic surgery.
• The proliferation of "Reality" TV programs featuring plastic surgery may lose their public appeal. The long term psychological effect of undergoing a dramatic change in appearance from simultaneous multiple-procedures, as is common for participants of reality shows, may surface in 2005.

Screening test mandatory for foreign medical graduates

Screening test mandatory for foreign medical graduates

Medical graduates with foreign degrees will not be able to practise in India till they have cleared a screening test conducted by the Medical Council of India, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The screening test will also be mandatory for those students who have got MBBS degrees from a country with which India has a reciprocity agreement. At present, certain medical qualifications of UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are covered under the reciprocity clause. From now, if an Indian student gets a medical degree from a foreign country covered under the reciprocity clause and wants to practise in India, he can do so only after clearing the MCI’s screening test.

The worst affected would be Indian students who had made a beeline for medical degrees from colleges in Nepal after the MCI had refused to recognise medical degrees from institutes in erstwhile USSR countries, which had liberal admission criteria.

Students went in droves to get admission in medical colleges in Nepal, with which India has a reciprocity clause, and had approached the SC after MCI said they were required to appear in the screening test.

Dismissing their plea against the screening test, a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal said:

Appellants have to appear in the screening test conducted by the National Board of Examination in terms of the Screening Test Regulations made by the MCI. It was noticed that such students also included those who did not fulfil the minimum eligibility requirements for admission to medical courses in India. Serious aberrations were noticed in the standards of medical education in some foreign countries, which were not on par with standards of medical education available in India,” the SC said justifying its ruling.

It was therefore felt necessary by Parliament to make a provision to enable MCI to conduct a screening test to satisfy the regulatory body about the adequacy of knowledge and skills acquired by citizens of India, who obtained medical qualifications from universities or medical institutions outside India.

MCI aims to bring back 5000 NRI doctors in 5 years

MCI aims to bring back 5000 NRI doctors in 5 years

Amendments in the Medical Council of India (MCI) regulations will open the floodgates for hundreds of non-resident Indian (NRI) doctors to come back to their roots. MCI has eased the cross-over rules and has set a target of bringing back 5,000 Indian doctors, including teachers, settled in US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

MCI has removed the main bottleneck by recognising the postgraduation and other degrees of these specific countries where health facilities are supposedly best in the world and the education was done in English medium. They have the choice of coming back to teach in a private or government college as well as work in a private or government hospital. Also, they can set up their own medical colleges and hospitals. Indian doctors in these countries are the richest segment even among NRIs.

Apart from accepting foreign degrees, the MCI has made special provision so that foreign experience is also counted. For example, if there is a professor of medicine in a US university, with the required number of years of experience to become one in India, he can be hired as a professor by any medical college in India. This will bring about a huge change not only in the cities but also in the countryside, if the doctors returning home really go deeper into their roots. Besides, MCI also sees the possibility of groups of NRI doctors coming back and pooling in their resources to build hospitals and medical colleges.