BuildMyBod® just returned from the 47th Annual Baker Gordon Educational Symposium. For those of you not familiar with it, it is the premiere cosmetic surgery symposium for plastic surgeons. What makes it so incredible? After attending the meeting for 4 out of the last 6 years, I can answer that question!
Aside from covering a broad range of cosmetic topics including body and facial surgical and non-surgical procedures by leading plastic surgery minds from all over the world, my favorite aspect is the live surgery. Depending on the topics being highlighted that year, Drs. Baker and Stuzin, the co-chairmen of the meeting, arrange for cosmetic procedures to be performed in Dr. Stuzin’s operating room in Miami. With the help of state of the art HD cameras and an incredible AV team, cameras are set up in the operating room and beamed back to the auditorium at the Miami Convention Center where the meeting participants watch and ask questions in real time. The symposium also sets up HD flat screen TV’s and speakers in multiple locations throughout the exhibit hall so that doctors that overflow from the auditorium can comfortably sit in chairs and couches and watch all of the presentations in the exhibit hall, including the live surgery. The surgery demonstrations start with the doctor reviewing the patient’s concerns on camera, obviously with the patient’s consent, and then proceeding to the operating room. The quality of the presentations, including the content but also the resolution of the images via the AV team, make for such an enjoyable and educational opportunity.
Even though BuildMyBod®, of which I’m the CEO/Founder, was exhibiting, I attended the Baker Gordon Symposium in the role of plastic surgeon attendee. The review of endoscopic brow lift and lower lid blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) on the first morning of the meeting, which included live surgery of these procedures, was helpful in teaching me new techniques but also reassurance that I was already performing some of these techniques in line with the current standard of care in cosmetic surgery. The second day of live surgery highlighted the new implants for breast augmentation using Sientra shaped implants. These implants are “teardrop” shaped, providing a more natural breast appearance. These implants are also made of highly cohesive gel, sometimes referred to as gummy bear implants, although this term is unofficial and not used by the only US company that makes them, Sientra. Check out the video below, from the website of one of our BuildMyBod® subscribing doctors, Dr. Michael Schwartz.
The last day of the meeting was an overview of facelift techniques by Drs. Tim Marten and Sherrell Aston and the developers of a minimally invasive facelift technique, Drs. Tonnard and Verpaele of Belgium. All of these techniques have their pros and pros (you read that correctly, to say pros and cons would suggest one is not as safe as the other) but these techniques differ in which are more appropriate for one type of face versus another type of face. In other words, one technique may be more effective for someone with heavy jowls (the skin that hangs along the jawline) and excess neck skin and another may be more appropriate for someone with just jowls.
This concentration of excellent demonstrations of surgical technique, informative lectures and video presentations all make for an incredible experience. Obviously I’m a big fan and I’m not a paid endorser!
From the BuildMyBod® side of things, our marketing director stood at the BuildMyBod® booth in the exhibit hall and discussed the latest innovations that BuildMyBod® had to offer physicians and patients. During the coffee breaks, I would return to the booth and answer any questions that doctors had for me, as a plastic surgeon, that also utilizes BuildMyBod® with my practice. I would be remiss if I did not mention the recurring humorous interactions with plastic surgeons visiting our booth once they found out I was not the average exhibitor, but also a plastic surgeon like them! Most (most) everyone was polite regardless of whether they thought I was an exhibitor or a plastic surgeon, but there was definitely a new appreciation for the BuildMyBod® product once they realized I was a plastic surgeon like them. The credibility factor increased instantly! And then after the coffee break, I’d return to the meeting with the plastic surgeons, which I’m sure was a little confusing to the doctor that I had just spoken with. BuildMyBod® also sponsored the doctor’s tote bags for the meeting, adding a slight smile to my face.
On behalf of the BuildMyBod® team, I would like to give Drs. Desrosiers and Gottenger a warm welcome to the BuildMyBod® family! Thank you for signing on with us at the Baker Gordon Educational Symposium.
