Dear Members of BSFPS,
I am privileged and honoured to take on the mantle of the incoming President of the British Society of Facial Plastic Surgery. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my predecessor, Mr Natarajan Balaji, for his exceptional leadership over the past two years. Mr Balaji’s vision of setting up the ongoing virtual lecture program, spear headed by Mr Saleh Okhovat, has been an extremely useful educational resource for our society. I must also acknowledge and greatly respect the tremendous contributions of the past presidents, whose contributions have brought the society to its current standing.
As we look to the future, we must acknowledge the rapidly evolving landscape of facial plastic surgery. Quite understandably, there are multiple drivers to bring some regulation and standards to this field of practice. Our society has a vital role to play in embracing these changes, ensuring that we remain an integral contributor to this process, and most importantly, providing the highest quality care to our patients.
To achieve this, I envision a multifaceted approach centered on three key pillars:
1. Education and Training: Continuing to enhance the education and training opportunities for our members is paramount. Creating more opportunities for trainees to gain access and training in this field, scholarships to support such activity and an educational program which continues to share best practice within our established consultants, will be the aim for the forthcoming two years. The BSFPS dissection course has already been rejuvenated, and the plan would be to expand this to wider spectrum of procedures for different levels of expertise to serve all levels of the membership to gain from this resource.
2. Patient-Centred Care: At the heart of everything we do is our patients. However, in the current Health Care climate and resource scarcity, it is increasingly important for us to substantiate and corroborate our practice. I consider it the role of the society to support the membership by creating such opportunities and providing necessary guidance and credentials through vehicles such as audit, guidelines and consensus documents. I would hope to start initiating such procedures.
3. Advocacy and Outreach: We have a responsibility to advocate for our profession and consolidate our position in this field of surgery that historically has multi-speciality input. By engaging with policymakers and multispecialty committee of the Royal college of Surgeons, we can help shape policies that support our field and educate the community about the importance of appropriately qualified and skilled practitioners.
Thank you once again for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. I look forward to serving you, working alongside you, and achieving great things together.
Professor Anshul Sama,
President of the British Society of Facial Plastic Surgery