Business View Oceania l January 2023

23 24 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 AUSTRAL I AN SOC I ETY OF PLAST I C SURGEONS (ASPS) professionalism, ASPS promotes a high standard of practice for all plastic surgeons. The association provides mentoring and peer review programs that centre around standards of practice, as well as comprehensive professional development programs to further deepen their speciality understanding. Mr. Kennedy continues, “We also advocate for patients. It’s very important to us that the availability of plastic surgery for reconstruction in public hospitals is protected, and that private hospitals may offer plastic surgery to patients without prejudice. We have advocated very strongly for issues that affect patients Australia-wide. For example, a few years ago the government wanted quite rightly to protect Medicare against cosmetic misuse, but they took a blunt axe to it, so to speak. And they were trying to cut out things that are very functional, like breast reduction. We advocated very strongly and had great success in preserving patients’ ability to have a breast reduction, which is a functional, pain-relieving operation, not a cosmetic one.” A current advocacy priority for ASPS, Mr. Kennedy says, is the titling of surgeons in Australia. “We believe that the distinction between doctors who are and aren’t specialist surgeons should be transparent and obvious to the public. Patients expect that the word ‘surgeon’, refers to a specialist who has been trained to an advanced level with Australian Medical Council (AMC) approval of their training. Currently, the term ‘surgeon’ is not a specialist reserved title. Therefore, a doctor can legally represent themselves as a specialist surgeon without any specialist training. This lack of transparency adds to prejudice against the plastic surgery industry and contributes to the unfettered practice of ‘cosmetic surgery cowboys’; healthcare providers who represent themselves as cosmetic surgeons without any specialist training. “The term ‘plastic surgeon’ is reserved, but ‘cosmetic’ is not a recognised specialty title. It has been argued that this is appropriate because there is no specialist training in cosmetic surgery, but that simply is not true. We do train in cosmetic surgery extensively, across the entire scope of cosmetic surgery. We have an extremely detailed and comprehensive training program- it’s just that cosmetic surgery falls inside our specialty, so there hasn’t been a need for the specialty ‘cosmetic surgery’ to be named. This is currently being investigated by the Health Council and will be responded to by the AMC and relevant bodies upon its conclusion. We are not talking here about stopping your specialist general practitioner from operating on you appropriately. We propose that the term ‘surgeon’ be reserved for specialist surgeons who have advanced specialty training recognised by the AMC. We’re saying that somebody without a specialty training in surgery shouldn’t be allowed to use the term ‘surgeon’. We believe this distinction will protect the public and make titling transparent.” ASPS is keen to see the results of the Health Council’s investigation and predicts a significant tightening of legislation moving forward. Mr. Kennedy concludes, “We don’t know in what form they will be introduced, but I think we will definitely see a serious tightening of medical descriptors and titles as a result of the Health Council’s investigation into this matter. And as such, I think the public will be better protected against practitioners who seek to work outside their scope of practice without sufficient training. I also think that there’ll be a recognition of the serious cosmetic training that is done within the plastic surgical training scheme. This training scheme is a five-year, full-time program. Many of our trainees work more than full time and take on a very extensive study program on top of that, and they come out with comprehensive, hands- on training that has been supervised by expert specialist plastic surgeons. I think it’s important to recognise the work that they put in and the knowledge and experience they bring to the table as a result. We will continue to fight for their recognition, for the protection of our patients, and for the betterment of an industry that improves the lives of so many.”