Practice Differences Among Plastic Surgeons in the US and Japan

Goals/Purpose: The first author practiced plastic surgery both in the US and Japan for more than 5 years each, and noticed significant differences in the types of diseases/conditions to deal with.  The authors would like to present the comparable data along with some anecdotal examples of the practices in those 2 countries.

Methods/Technique: The database from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. were used for the US data, and these were compared with those of Japanese hospitals.

Results/Complications: Major differences exist among plastic surgeons in the US and Japan, in the field of cosmetic surgical cases.  Cosmetic cases are limited in the Japanese general hospitals.  Also, most Japanese plastic surgeons treat general surgical cases.

Conclusion: Practice differences do exist between Japanese and American plastic surgeons.  Japanese plastic surgeons need to spend significant time for general surgical practice since general surgery division of hospitals continue to diminish in number.