Surgery workshops in Orlando – strategy, teaching, exchange of professional experience. XII Live Surgery Workshop International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)
The 12th workshop on Hair Restoration Surgery was conducted on March 15-18, 2006 in Orlando, Florida, USA. As usual, it was perfectly organized and hosted by Matt Leavitt, MD, and David Perez-Meza, MD. More than 180 doctors from all over the world participated in this event. The vast majority of the participants arrived there to acquire knowledge about this more and more popular field of medicine. A group of the most prominent surgeons, who are undisputedly considered to be authorities in hair reconstruction surgery with the present president of the ISHRS, Paul Rose, MD., being at the head of the group, they all shared their experience with the participants. The session devoted to some recent possibilities of hair cloning aroused a huge interest. It was conducted by Ken Washenik, MD.. However, despite enormous advances made in this field of medicine, the dreams of imminent hair cloning can be put aside for another few years.James Harris, MD., conducted the session devoted to the FUE method (follicular Unit Extraction), which has been recently quite popular. Nevertheless, inspite of some progress in this particular area, only 5-7% of the surgeries is performed by means of this method since it is not a panacea to all types of baldness. It is rather reserved to precisely specified cases of hair loss. As always during the workshop also this time the results of experiments done during the previous workshop were presented. Also Mr Kolasiński was one of the lecturers. He shared his experience with the participants in terms of the treatment of baldness of different types. He presented his new tools to collect the transplants by means of FUE (FUE-cone pen) method, as well.The participants spent afternoons in operating theaters watching the world famous specialists at work. Marcelo Galdenman, MD., aroused a huge interest while presenting his technique of eyelashes transplantation. Also Jerzy Kolasiński was one of the operators, who demonstrated the technique developed by himself called four-hand-stick-and-place.The workshop was preceded by the board meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, in which Jerzy Kolasiński took part. The most important aspects connected with the strategy of the Society for the next few years were discussed as well as the process of accessing of the ISHRS to the American Medical Asociation (AMA).As usual, the workshop does not only mean lectures and operations. One should not forget about numerous social events aimed at a better integration of the doctors dealing with baldness treatment.A perfect weather made a summer wind come on the very last days of winter.