Editorial

At the beginning of my short reflection, I am going to write for the reader who wants to save time reading this article: Let us do things that have meaning and value.

Plastic surgery is a field where the results are visible to the naked eye and can be appreciated by any layman. It is also a field that allows us not to depend on public sector salaries or payment from insurance companies. These factors create a certain competitive environment. In the age of social media, we can present our results to the general public. We use this to raise the profile of our work, for advertising purposes but also to educate the public. Just as any layman will evaluate our work, so will any layman evaluate the level of our presentation. Not every layman will laugh at the “funny” video from the operating room, not every layman will believe the story about how the patient in question was bullied at work because of the excesses on the upper eyelids. Even a layman can see that the indication for aesthetic surgery was borderline and the fantastic results presented by the doctor are the work of well done make-up. Each of us in reconstructive plastic surgery strives to make the benefits of the surgery and our treatment permanent for the patient. I believe that each of us in aesthetic surgery strives to make the results of surgery permanent or long lasting. Let’s present these results, let’s present what will not diminish the prestige of our field among the general public, but, on the contrary, will increase it. The number of followers on Instagram can be bought for a few pennies, it has no value after all. Let’s try to increase our professionalism and education, let’s speak at congresses, let’s try to publish, let’s maintain professional links with foreign countries. Let’s do things that have meaning and value, things that will increase the prestige of our field; it will help us all. That’s something you can’t buy.

Vladimír Mařík, MD

Chairmen of the Czech Society of Aesthetic Surgery