Eyelid Surgery (Blepharoplasty)

Today I flew to San Diego for a 5-day stay. The Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) begins on Thursday, but tomorrow is a full day of committee meetings and board meetings. Last year I was elected to the Board of Directors of the AAFPRS as Group Vice-President-elect of Awards, Research and Development by a national vote of the membership. I have been participating with Board activities in the “elect” capacity over the last year, and my official 3-year term begins at this meeting. This is a personal milestone for me, something that I had dreamed of since beginning my practice 15 years ago at NYU, but not really believing I could achieve at the relatively young age of 48. I consider a great honor to serve on the Board and representing our members, especially in this time of tremendous impending change in our health care system.

This meeting also marks my nomination to be on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (ABFPRS; www.abfprs.org ). This is the organization that administers the annual written and oral board examination in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. The examination is another worthy endeavor that helps patients understand the competency of their doctors.

I will be again chairing the Fellowship Committee of the AAFPRS, where we help to improve the quality of the fellowship program administered by AAFPRS. I have been a Fellowship Director for 8 years, elevating facial plastic surgery to the next level at NYU Langone Medical Center. This year I hired my graduating fellow, Dr. Matt White, into my Division of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, further expanding the services we provide.

I will also be attending numerous other committee meetings, among my favorite the Face To Face Committee, where I am senior advisor. We will be launching a new program: Face To Face Veterans Initiative. This program will couple volunteer surgeons with injured veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. When armed forces healthcare and the VA system can no longer help these Vets, the AAFPRS program may, by making advanced expertise available at no cost to the Veteran.

Finally, I will be joining forces with Dr. Dean Toriumi of Chicago and Dr. Russel Kridel of Houston to teach a one-hour course on Open Rhinoplasty Finesse. To be able to share the podium with these two Past Presidents of the AAFPRS leaves me feeling giddy. It should be a lot of fun for all of us and for the course attendees.

Stay tuned for updates on the meeting, on this blog and on twitter.com @drconstantinide.