History of BAAPS
The specialty of Plastic Surgery was established during the First World War to help treat servicemen who had been mutilated in the conflict.
Plastic Surgery became a specialty in its own right just after the Second World War, and was used to reconstruct facial wounds on soldiers at The Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot.
One of the founding fathers of Plastic Surgery, Sir Harold Gillies, quickly recognised the potential of this type of surgery and was involved in the creation of a new hospital devoted to facial repairs in Sidcup, which treated thousands of servicemen from all over the world.
Cosmetic surgery as we know it today evolved naturally from reconstructive surgery, and even now all Plastic Surgeons are still trained in reconstructive surgery first.
The term 'Plastic' was used before the plastics we know today were invented - the term originally meant 'moulding and shaping'.
Over the next 30 years Plastic Surgery developed and special interest groups started to form.
The first meeting of the British Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons was held in 1979.
In 1982, this group was renamed to The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
Today BAAPS has the same aims as it did all those years ago, to promote excellence in aesthetic plastic surgery by facilitating training in cosmetic surgery through annual meetings, where scientific papers are presented and surgeons of international repute share their skills.
BAAPS also provides financial awards for surgeons who present the best papers at the annual meeting: these awards enable recipients to travel to international meetings, present their work and gain wider experience.
Over 300 Member surgeons now attend these meetings, which forms an essential part of their commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Continued Medical Experience (CME).