Aesthetic surgery legal requisites h a n d s o m e When you decide to have any treatment carried out on the face or body, you must make sure that you are dealing with an adequately qualified professional. The ONLY legal requisite for being a doctor of aesthetic medicine – surgery was to be a general practitioner (from 6 to 8 years of study in Europe) with a non-official training imparted by colleagues or through conventions or workshops. Things are changing.
Spanish legislation has recently introduced changes to the effect that a Doctor who practices aesthetic medicine or “Cosmetic†surgery, may only handle skin and fat down to the level of the muscles. This means he can carry out all kind of injections, exfoliation treatments, laser treatments, diets, anti-aging programmes and limited liposuctions.
The surgical training of these doctors is probably incomplete, to ensure safer conditions for anything that goes beyond those treatments. Generally speaking, “cosmetic†basically means superficial. For this reason we gradually come to an international standardization of vocabulary, using the term Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, instead of Cosmetic Surgery, only for real specialists. A surgeon is entitled to the qualification of Specialist in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery if he has received training for techniques in plastic surgery for a minimum of three years, or more, and with an average of between five and seven years of hospital practice (if he has studied the reconstruction of the face or hands after burning), and he must also have received training in plastic surgery, carried out in a hospital.
The fact of a surgeon belonging, or not, to a Scientific Association, is not a legal requisite. He MUST be registered in a Professional Doctors’ Association (for Malaga, El Ilustre Colegio de Medicos de Malaga).
The security provided by this aspect means that patients are guaranteed that the treatment is going to be carried out by a real specialist in a clinic that is registered. The European Community has set out a series of safety regulations and requisites that must be complied with for clinics to be able to obtain the licence required for aesthetic surgery to be performed within their facilities.
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in this new millenium is undoubtedly based on technological progress. Photos are taken with a digital camera of full face, profile, etc, then these photos are stored on a computer using ultrapotent software that will evaluate the best strategic options for rejuvenation or the changes necessary for obtaining the face or body that is closest to the established standards of beauty.
Then orders pass from the computer to mechanical “arms†to perform the operation under the supervision of the surgeon, but in a way that is more mechanized. This is not a dream, it is reality. It already exists in some fields of surgery, where operations are performed long-distance. Nevertheless, nowadays, surgery is still carried out for the most part completely manually (with two hands and ten fingers). The surgeon is the key element of the operation. He measures, draws, cuts and stitches. In short, he decides which is the most appropriate option and technique for his patient, according to his training, his experience and his own technical and artistic preferences.
Dr. P. Albrecht M.D. Ph. D. – 952 816 981
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Editorial: Dr. Pier Albrecht, Dr. Pierre Albrecht, Dr. Pierjean Albrecht,
Dr. Pier Jean Albrecht, Dr. Pierre F. Albrecht, Dr. Pierre Frank Albrecht,
Dr. P. Frank Albrecht, Dr. Pierjean Frank Albrecht, Marbella Clinic