Our friend Dr Steven Liew https://www.shapeclinic.com.au/about/dr-steven-liew/ said to us two years ago, conferences are becoming ‘same old same old’ and he felt that it was time to do something innovative. Fast forward two years and we have just attended his inaugural Aesthetic 2019 conference https://www.conveneit.com/secure/aesthetics/conf-2019/ .
Hands down this would be the best conference we have attended this year. Why?
- Dr Liew managed to assemble some of the most respected experts in the industry, both locally and internationally, to share their knowledge, expertise and experience. We were able to see Dr Steven Liew himself in action. We would regard him as one of the foremost leaders and injectors in the world. Dr Arthur Swift https://www.drarthurswift.com from Canada and Dr Raj Acquilla http://www.rajacquilla.com from the UK were special guest speakers. We have been following them for over a decade and indeed we have written about both of them in the past.
- There were no sales pitch in the conference. It was about experts sharing their knowledge and experience, rather than sticking to company scripts or messages.
- There was an emphasis on science. The anatomy sessions by Professor Sebastian Cotofana https://www.instagram.com/professorsebastiancotofana/ from New York was particularly memorable. He was able to bring this often dry subject alive. He also shared with us his latest research in facial anatomy specifically pertaining to injectable treatments. Dr Bryan Mendelson https://bmendelson.com.au also deserves a special mention. He is a famous plastic surgeon from Melbourne who pioneered the concept of facial anatomy in layers. We have read all scientific paper of his over the past couple of decades. Listening to him explaining his discoveries really clarified these concepts for us.
- The live injecting workshops were performed on ‘real’ patients. We have often complained that in industry events, the patients being treated on stage were young and beautiful and really did not need much to be done for excellent results to be achieved. Dr Liew listened and he incorporated ‘real’ people that are often more technically challenging than the young and beautiful. It was wonderful to see how the experts still managed to deliver exceptional but realistic outcome for these patients.
- We enjoyed catching up with old friends and our network of exceptional doctors around the country. These included Dr Ron Feiner https://cosmetica.com.au/about/, (medical dean of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery), Dr Eddie Roos (board member of the Australasian College of Aesthetic Medicine), Dr Steven Liew (conference convener, international key opinion leader and plastic surgeon extraordinaire), Dr Cath Porter www.drcathporter.com, (expert injector and Allergan trainer), Dr Joseph Hkeik https://allsaintsclinic.com.au/about-dr-joseph-hkeik/, (one of the top cosmetic physicians in the world and a key opinion leader for Merz Aesthetics).
- Australia is a country of multicultural diversity and our population is truly a melting pot of people from different ethnic backgrounds. In order to serve our patients better, several sessions of lectures and live injecting workshops were devoted to anatomical and cultural different of patients from various ethnic backgrounds.
Over the coming weeks, we will share with you what we have learnt from this conference.
