EAFPS London 2022 – Women in Facial Plastic Surgery Committee

Dear Friend, dear Female EAFPS Member,

it is my pleasure to introduce You the “Women in Facial Plastic Surgery Committee” within the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery.

First of all, I’d like to thank You for taking the time to read this letter to introduce the project. I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to speak to You over this matter. Secondly, let me explain the reasons why we decided to start this project.

According to the Data Resource Book of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, women now comprise approximately 50 percent of all U.S. medical school graduates, a dramatic increase from 50 years ago, when they represented 10 percent of medical students.^, Furthermore, women now account for approximately 42 percent of active residents in all surgical training programs (www.acgme.org).

The same tendency we can witness all over the world, where currently more women entering the profession and raise to the top position even in traditionally male-dominated fields.

At the same time, making a prosperous carrier, especially in a surgical specialty, often is a challenge for female doctors because of some inequities within their institutions, pregnancy and childbearing, and a continuous balance in between professional and family duties so as not to shortchange any of them.

Nowadays, professionally active and creative women in different fields all over the world  try to unite in associations and organizations to stay connected, to share their professional and personal experience, to learn and to advance.

About 20% of the EAFPS membership are female doctors. So, we thought that it could be a reasonable point to launch a committee “Women in Facial Plastic Surgery” (WiFPS) under the umbrella of the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery.

OUR MISSION

to support and to empower women of sister surgical specialties at all levels to evolve their professional abilities to the fullest potential in the field of facial plastic surgery, as professionals, and encourage them in their professional and personal development and satisfaction.

OUR VISION

to create an inclusive community and to bring together current and future women surgeons to be empowered and inspired by leaders and role models in the field, to design a place where women surgeons could find support, share ideas and collaborate in a vivid and friendly community in order to unfold all their potential and to take control of their career.

OUR VALUES

• professionalism
• ethics
• teamwork
• partnership
• quality
• communication

OUR GOALS

1. to create a professional women network in conjunction withal colleagues within the EAFPS and a platform for communication, advocacy, discussion, education and awareness;
2. to inspire female surgeons to fulfill their professional and personal ambitions;
3. to encourage and develop leadership in the field, seek and engage role models and mentors;
4. to design networking and mentoring opportunities;
5. to build strategic alliances with similar communities and allied specialties for sharing experiences and expertise.

 The doors of our WiFPS working group are opened to all EAFPS female members, for each one of you who feels that WiFPS is the place You want to be. To communicate. To share. To learn from others.

The premier session of the Women in Facial Plastic Surgery Committee was successfully held at the EAFPS annual meeting in Nice last year.

I warmly invite You to join us this year at the EAFPS meeting in London on Saturday, 17.09.2022 at 15.00 for a frank and open discussion on “100 Shades of Success: how to get from where you are to where to be”.

If You want to learn more about the Women in Facial Plastic Surgery activities, please check the EAFPS website, as our page will be online soon.

Sincerely Yours,
Irina Vasilenko, MD, PhD, ExMBA
Chair, Women in Facial Plastic Surgery