It is a great privilege to address the members of EURAPS after my election during the 2003 meeting in Vienna. I feel particularly honoured considering that 12 years old EURAPS has become one of the most prestigious and renowned societies in our specialty and also because I am the successor of a series of famous European plastic surgeons.  

It is current nowadays to say and to write that the practice of medicine and surgery is undergoing a major crisis, mainly for economical reasons, decreasing working hours in the teaching hospitals, administrative overloading, increasing regulations and legal procedures. Although more and more people consult their doctor for trivial reasons, at the same time, one observes an increased distrust towards the medical corporation as a whole.

Plastic surgery is not spared by these trends. Questionable advertising by some plastic surgeons and insufficient postgraduate training are further reasons for uneasiness and I believe that we should not dissimulate our responsibility in this state of affairs. I also believe that an association like EURAPS can overcome these problems by keeping in mind what I consider the main principles of our speciality:

·        In order to provide the best possible care to our patients, we should constantly tackle the basic problems of our surgery by initiating fundamental and clinical research in our field while keeping an eye on the newest developments in other fields.

·        The art of surgery, and particularly plastic surgery, requires also constant efforts at improving our technical skills.

·        The skills and knowledge that have been acquired during long postgraduate trainings should be transferred gradually to younger surgeons.

EURAPS gives us a unique opportunity to create the scientific network which will help us to fulfil these objectives and possibly to counteract the morose period that the medical profession seems to go through. It is my hope that, more than ever, the members of our association will not meet only once a year for a scientific meeting, but create networks of friendship, collaboration and exchange similar to the companionships founded centuries ago by craftsmen all over Europe.

No doubt, our profession has developed in the recent years the most imaginative and refined methods to improve the aesthetics of the human appearance, but we should keep in mind that basic techniques of plastic surgery are also essential for the rehabilitation of an overwhelming number of crippled children and adults living in the developing world. EURAPS and its members can play a crucial role in promulgating our specialty while preserving high medical and ethical standards.

 After a fantastic meeting in Vienna organised by our Secretary General Stan Monstrey and our local host Manfred Frey and his team, we are looking forward to the 2004 EURAPS meeting under the Mediterranean sun in Genoa. Pietro Berrino, it is your turn!

Denys MONTANDON , June 2003