A very serious topic: Qualifications for Scalp Surgery

[HairRobinHood]

All the following is just a just 1:1 copy out of an U.S. hair loss board:

Hello there!

I’m from Austria, and first of all, I can proudly report, that we (at least our authorities) recently could destroy more than 22,000 fake medications, of course including lots of fake hair loss medications too:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wor...103618804.html

And hopefully, other countries will soon follow this way …

But actually, this topic/report is NOT the topic I mentioned in the topic headline. I’m talking here about needed qualifications and skills for scalp surgery like hair transplants in general and more over a little bit about a specific observed behaviour in the hair transplant field.

Recently, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) highlighted, among some other interesting hair transplant techniques related topics, the following issue:

Essential abstracts/paragraphs from the article by the ISHRS …

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“An important issue associated with a particular mechanized FUE is the marketing to physicians that unlicensed personnel may be able to perform the harvesting. This raises significant legal issues in many countries, including the U.S. There are states where it is clearly illegal to have a non-physician, non Physician Assistant (PA) or Nurse Practioner (NP) perform such surgery. The laws in other countries may present similar medico legal problems regarding who can harvest tissue. For example, in Austria, Israel, Italy, Korea, Georgia, Thailand, Turkey, and Japan, only physicians are allowed to make incisions, and regulations vary as to the role of assistants in graft insertions. In some countries including the US, entrepreneurial nurses and medical assistants are setting up hair transplant clinics, and hiring physicians as medical directors who may have limited or no hair transplant experience, but who “supervise” the procedure. Many U.S. states allow the physician to delegate responsibilities to staff under supervision, but both the degree of supervision, and the extent of staff responsibilities is not clearly defined.
To date, this issue has not been challenged or reviewed by any state medical board.”

ISHRS Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery

”The position of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery is that any procedure that involves tissue removal from the scalp or body, by any means, must be performed by a licensed physician in the field of medicine. Physicians who perform hair restoration surgery must possess the education, training, and current competency in the field of hair restoration surgery. It is beyond the scope of practice for non-licensed personnel to perform surgery. Surgical removal of tissue by non-licensed medical personnel may be considered practicing medicine without a license by state, federal or local governing boards of medicine. The Society supports the scope of practice of medicine as defined by a physician's state, country or local legally governing board of medicine.”
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Just to highlight THE most essential part (at least in my opinion) once again:

“entrepreneurial nurses and medical assistants are setting up hair transplant clinics, and hiring physicians as medical directors who may have limited or no hair transplant experience, but who “supervise” the procedure. Many U.S. states allow the physician to delegate responsibilities to staff under supervision, but both the degree of supervision, and the extent of staff responsibilities is not clearly defined.”

In Europe (and I assume in the U.S. too), I noticed an increasing number of such “supervised clinics” and in addition very often (falsely) promoted “institutes” for “Hair Restoration Surgery”.

Even worse: Especially THIS sort of “hair transplant clinics” are the ones, none have been waiting for: They are VERY well organized, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET. And I know for sure, that (hopefully) most of you guys are aware of this very serious issue:

I too can very often observe situations in ‘specific’ hair loss boards, especially in recent times, where new or “clearly” independent hair loss sufferers and forum users, or simply in hair transplantation interested normal people, got attacked in a REALLY brutal manner by paid posters from such “clinics”, and even worse, by the clinic owners themselves, just due to the fact, they reported about their experiences during a consultation with an other (respected and well-known) clinic; of course hair transplant clinics, who do NOT pay the forum administrators/owners.
Instead to protect such (new) forum users and/or reporters, or to avoid any predictable quarrels among the competitors, they a) force the user indirect by blaming and chicaning them to delete their posts themselves, or b) edit the persons posts for instance in such a way, so that the remaining and manipulated posting-text is completely out of the context, in the effort to reprove and provoke them as “fake user” in the intention to make them angry, what finally results in a programmed conflict (which is well organised supported by ‘them’), and finally gives THEM - “according their forum rules” – reason to ban this ‘fake user’ – without ever giving them the chance for any defence. Of course the behaviour of “the others” will NOT sanctioned in any way in such situations. The reason is clear.

So the question, among many others, remains:

How to handle such (well-known) behaviour by such specific “clinics” and “specific forums” IN GENERAL ?

[Falcone]

If there is nog difference in the end result and in the safety why bother?

A FUE would be very expensive if only the doctor can do the incissions etc.

I do agree that there should be supervision from a doctor who has also got some HT experience. i think only the exctraction of a fut and the numbing should absolutely be doctors work.

Then again how many HT patients are not butchered by doctors. And also how many FUE doctors didn't have low growth0 And maybe those who work with supervision have better fue results I don't say it is like that but it just depends on the skills of the team. A doctor cannot in himself constantely do everything and have constantely good results for a reasonble price.