International Education Important in Advancing Rhinoplasty

The concept of being educated in a vacuum of isolation has become less and less of an issue in medicine as information is shared via the world wide web.  However, even today, it is easy for many people to read the same information and interpret it essentially the same way.  Thus, unless there is dialogue and sharing of ideas, it becomes difficult for physicians to find the branch points in the information such that they can take it in a new direction.  As I reflect on my time at the 4th Open Rhinoplasty Course in Bergamo, Italy, I find that I am more likely to take the information from a meeting and apply it than I am when reading a peer reviewed journal.  This was immediately evident by the number of lectures given on the topic of Diced Cartilage and Fascia grafts where I was not the lecturer (neither was Rollin Daniel) and the lecturers were not from the United States.

I found the discussion to be high level, forward thinking, and progressive.  This has caused me to think even more about the fine points of my techniques and results.  We can always find ways to do things better as we simply want to generate the best results possible for our patients.  There is more to come, but for now I am looking forward to more dialogue as we all try to make our specialty better.