Reply to “Clarifying the Distinction Between Plastic Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery Accurately and Respectfully”

Dear Sir, In regard to the comments by Drs. Kontis and Papel1 about training, our article2 indicates that our survey and article is not intended to imply superiority of one specialty designation or training model. In fact, in the article we indicated there are many circumstances where both specialties learn and collaborate with one another. The article goes on to say that the findings only serve to highlight the poor health literacy among laypeople in understanding the differences in training and certification amongst providers. Although this may not have been an issue 40 years ago, the advent of social media, much of which is unregulated, has reignited this discussion. Ultimately, we believe in being fully transparent with the public, and this article demonstrates that the public feels associated confusion with nomenclature. Part of the confusion is related to how providers play with words and market their services on social media platforms. For example, there are non-ABPS plastic surgeons on social media advertising as “plastic surgeons.” As stated in the article, we believe the term plastic when used to describe surgery refers to this creative and innovative surgical specialty, established in 1937 by the ABPS, and to a general philosophy and approach to molding human tissues to optimize form and function. It is our responsibility to our patients to continue educate them on these differences to allow them to make an informed decision. Thank you. DISCLOSURE The author has no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article.