Background: Plastic surgery has a long-standing history of being deeply interconnected with global health. This paper reviews the current state of global health as it relates to plastic surgery and makes forecasts for the future.
Methods: This study reviews the most current literature on global plastic surgery, as well as offers insights based on our 2 senior authors' experiences. For our literature search, the MEDLINE database was queried using relevant keywords through both PubMed and OVID user interfaces.
Findings: Early exposure to global plastic surgery often leads to a lifelong involvement. Formal integration of global surgery into residencies is becoming more common. Models of care for global plastic surgery range from small to large groups, spanning the full spectrum of reconstructive plastic surgery. The best of these groups have longitudinal relationships with their operative sites to allow for continuous care. Logistics and funding are crucial for successful care. Technological advances will make long-distance care more facile in the future.
Conclusions: Global plastic surgery is rewarding to both patient and physician. Plastic surgery has been and will continue to be committed to providing high-quality global health care.
Keywords: global health; global surgery; medical missions; plastic surgery.
Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.