The COVID-19 pandemic has changed every aspect of our life. As we move forward at this unprecedented time The PMFA Journal is here to help everyone in the fields of plastic & maxillofacial surgery and aesthetic medicine. We have a dedicated COVID-19 page on our website to keep you up to date, with useful resources, news, guidelines and the experiences of readers. Here we are delighted to bring you news from our media partners on how they are responding to the challenges of this global crisis.
The BACN
Due to COVID-19 the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN) has suspended operations until the summer of 2020. CEO Paul Burgess and his Board are working on a voluntary basis to provide a regular update to members and to keep the Facebook site open to deal with questions.
The membership renewal date has been extended to the end of June and the association is hoping to get things up and running again throughout July. There are plans for an Autumn series of regional events and the Annual Conference will likely move from November 2020 to February 2021. The BACN recognises that many of its members will need help and support to relaunch businesses and the BACN is looking at innovative ways in which it can help these members.
BAPRAS
As a specialty, plastic surgery has only limited direct involvement in the management of COVID-19 but the potential challenge of COVID-19 is such that all clinicians have a role to play.
It is important that as a specialty we respond in a way that maximises our support to the NHS and provides the best possible care to our patients.
The BAPRAS website provides relevant and up to date guidance to date from various national bodies and other associations. Additionally, BAPRAS are running regular webinars on a variety of topics including pastoral care, personal (PPE) guidance, and exiting the crisis.
www.bapras.org.uk/professionals/About/member-resources/covid-19-advice-for-members
www.bapras.org.uk/professionals/training-and-education/bapras-events/covid-19-webinars
BCAM
Statement from Greg White, Chief Executive, BCAM.
We are in the midst of a period of unprecedented threat to our health, wellbeing and way of life. We are experiencing business disruption, economic uncertainty and social upheaval like never before. And we may only be at the end of the beginning.
Already, a significant effort has been made within the British College of Aesthetic Medicine (BCAM). As of late March, staff have either been remote working or furloughed. The transition has been seamless and ensured that our singular objective at that time was achieved: the safety of staff and members. There has been no interruption to the business and we continue to provide the quality of member service that the BCAM team has always prided ourselves on. New services introduced include a member COVID-19 fact-file and a contractual law vlog from a legal partner. Yet the real challenge of this emergency has been for our loyal members, many of whom have closed their clinics and furloughed staff and then volunteered to support the NHS.
What might aesthetic medicine look like going forward in a ‘new normal?’ There is no one playbook for this crisis, but if enforced lockdown has been any sort of guide, it is that organisations and individuals can, and will, adapt. Most of us will have heard of restaurants local to us, unable to serve customers inside, which are offering home deliveries; technology providers are offering free services to key workers; and one brewing company has even diversified to make its own hand sanitiser. Stories like these are increasingly common. The underlying theme: rapid adaptability to significant change.
During this period this is exactly what will be needed for aesthetic medicine to survive and thrive. At BCAM we aim to play our part by helping our expert members to stand out in a likely smaller, quality-oriented marketplace going forward. We are here to help and together we will all get through this crisis. If there is anything BCAM can support you with please just ask.
ASLMS
When the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery (ASLMS) Annual Conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders and staff quickly shifted the focus to online educational offerings to keep our members engaged and informed. First up was a series of webinars, free for ASLMS members, such as the following in April and May:
- Presentation by ASLMS President Dr Dieter Manstein and ASLMS 2020 Co-Chairs, Dr Hans-Joachim Laubach and Dr Molly Wanner.
- Ask Me Anything, featuring Dr Roy Geronemous and Dr Gerald Goldberg.
- Re-Emerging Your Practice After COVID-19 Panel Discussion, led by Dr Paul Friedman.
Other educational webinars are being planned for June. ASLMS will launch a new Online Learning platform, a place for educational courses, informative sessions, videos, and podcasts. To support our goal to share the most cutting edge research in the field of lasers and energy-based medicine, many of the abstracts that were going to be presented at the 2020 conference are being recorded and will be available through ASLMS Online Learning. To view the latest online offerings, go to https://www.aslms.org/for-professionals/education-center/online-learning
For all of us, the future is uncertain, and we will not know for some time how the pandemic will affect upcoming in-person courses and conferences. Our plan is to provide a steady stream of virtual learning opportunities to our members year-round, as well as be prepared for a hybrid format (live and online) for our future meetings.
IMCAS
IMCAS congresses are medical conferences bringing together prominent international experts in plastic surgery, dermatology and ageing science with educational content designed to improve the practice standards of physicians and practitioners.
With the current health situation momentarily preventing their primary activity of organising physical congresses, the IMCAS team is adapting and evolving to bring the same high-quality learning experience of IMCAS in the form of digital conferences on IMCAS Academy.
The international experts who were once on stage are now on screen each month during the live webinars. Informative and interactive, the webinars not only explore a wide variety of hot topics in aesthetics, they allow you to exchange in real-time with the featured experts on screen. So, join IMCAS every month for free and continue your learning from the world’s best!
As a safety precaution, the on-site congresses have been postponed to a later date: IMCAS Asia x ITCAM Congress 2020 has been rescheduled to 15-17 October in Bangkok, while IMCAS Americas will resume in 2021. Please visit the websites below for the all latest news from IMCAS Congress and for e-learning opportunities!
www.imcas.com
www.imcasacademy.com
UKAAPS
For many years we have seen a rapid expansion of the anti-ageing beauty industry. The UK Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (UKAAPS) is a national organisation with an exclusive membership of accredited plastic surgeons dedicated to best practice, patient safety and advancing medical education and training.
Since March 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic has, quite rightly, produced a total lockdown of aesthetic practice. This has, by necessity, produced devastation within the industry and once thriving practices are on the verge of bankruptcy and collapse, with clinic staff ‘laid-off’ or ‘furloughed’, disruption of supply lines, and ongoing expenses. There is no means of income generation, but with costs often well above the £100,000 mark, mitigating expenditure is vital. Business is not something that comes naturally to surgeons and novel practice management survival techniques need to be learned fast.
With the consequences of lockdown to aesthetic practice now in the limelight, Shailesh Vadadoria, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and President-Elect of UKAAPS, has organised a series of webinar seminars entitled ‘Survival Solutions’ for UKAAPS Members (also available to non-UKAAPS plastic surgeons). The objective is to offer collective guidance to struggling aesthetic surgery clinics and businesses as the crisis affects their personal, family, professional and social lives. UKAAPS has invited Sailesh Mehta, a Senior Barrister from Lions Chambers, London and Veronica Donnelly, a Senior London-based Accountant, to advise us on cost reduction strategies, methods of availing government aids and managing insurance claims for business interruption. The webinar group are brainstorming on how best to mitigate the effects of the pandemic including the development of new protocols for ‘face to face’ consultations, perioperative management, special patient consent particularly in view of COVID-19, and other medicolegal issues. Medical indemnity needs consideration because with reduced income and less numbers of patients treated indemnity should be significantly reduced.
There is increasing wisdom within our speciality for professional co-operation, co-existence and collaboration, rather than outdated malicious competition and aggressive comparison, as we realise that we are facing a far bigger battle against COVID-19.
Euromedicom
What’s new from Euromedicom, the organisers of the AMWC event series (including FACE, ICAD, and VCS)? The introduction of the Aesthetic Multispecialty Society, a scientific online platform that Euromedicom have partnered with. As the world becomes increasingly digital, there are huge benefits of online education – the AMS is the perfect hub to unite the aesthetic and anti-ageing community and to inspire your learning.
The AMS has been designed to be as interactive and comprehensive as possible with a variety of features, including: Educational Videos, Discussion Forums, Groups (to connect you with likeminded people who have similar interests), Industry News, Live Streams Projects and Events.
The AMS launched their first webinar on 24 April: CHISELED: Male Jawline Enhancement with Shino Bay Aguilera. The video will be available on demand for the AMS members. (Do not miss the free membership for three months).
Euromedicom are also hosting very popular Instagram Lives with some star speakers, including Dr Rungsima Wanitphakdeedecha, Dr Shino Bay Aguilera, Dr Anil Rajani, Dr Chytra V Anand and many more to come! So far, they have covered PDO thread and brow lifts, non-HA fillers and collagen stimulation, male rejuvenation and tackling hyperpigmentation with a multimodality approach. These are a great way to interact with your favourite key opinion leaders directly as you can leave comments and ask questions in real-time.
A few Instagram giveaways are also planned with Euromedicom, which they will announce soon – keep your eyes peeled for these as you could have the opportunity to win tickets to AMWC Monaco, FACE London and ICAD Bangkok.
Please note the well-loved AMWC and FACE conferences are still going ahead but have been postponed for the safety of everyone involved. AMWC will be taking place from 5-7 November and FACE will be from 17-18 October.
Euromedicom hope everyone is staying safe and well and look forward to welcoming you all (for now) on one of the digital platforms and later at one of their world-class events.
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