Apology to Plastic Surgeons...

I'm spending a couple of weeks rotating through plastic surgery. Okay, so you're wondering what a primary care doc is doing there? I want to hone my skills to perform office procedures and learn techniques that will help me when I do international medical work.

I confess: I felt a smug moral superiority to plastic surgeons. Sure, they make the big bucks, I believed, but they did so by taking medicine and turning it into a cosmetic shop to indulge the shallow whims and fancies of clients with money to burn. This is what I thought. I thought plastic surgery was all about tummy tucks, breasts (reduction, augmentation), nose jobs and such. And of course, it is about these things... but not all about them.

During the two weeks, I have seen reconstruction of wounds, repair of hand injuries, restoration of dignity and the crown of them all -- the repair of cleft lips. I apologize to plastic surgeons who are artists, creative surgeons and smart and skillful doctors who heal wounds and rebuild beauty and dignity.