The Operative Note

Part 1 Who we are, were, or will be: the American Board of Plastic Surgery - in pursuit of excellence; decline of plastic surgical dynasties; are we training surgeons for the future or the past?; is there medicine after residency? Part 2 What we do: the operative note -when aesthetic surgery is not aesthetic; unproven treatment - whose benefit, whose responsibility? Part 3 How some of us try to make a living - a very good living: overobliging and underappreciated; "He Talked Me Into It"; the war of the noses; plastic surgical entries for the "Guinness Book of World Records". Part 4 We sometimes view health care (?) and the world around us: health care for all but not for nothing; one little MD, two little MDs ... then there were all; malpractice insurance - taxation without representation. Part 5 What we read and sometimes write: authorship; preliminary results - facts or excuses?; reality in plastic surgery - a plea for complete disclosure of results; a New Year's resolution - truth in reporting.